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THE  COURT  OF  LOVE 


rhe 

COURT  OF  LOVE 

by 
ALICE  BROWN 


§ 


BOSTON    AND    NEW    YORK 
HOUGHTON,   MIFFLIN  AND  COMPANY 

1906 


^'■".EBAL 


COPYRIGHT    1906   BY   ALICE   BROWN 
ALL   RIGHTS   RESERVED 

Published  May  rgob 


9S' 

13  ^^ 

Oct* 


THE  COURT  OF  LOVE 


COURT    OF  LOVE 


-^-       T  ten  o'clock  in  the  even- 
"%.  .    ino-   Peter  Maxwell's 


J,     y4     jT^  library  was  a  scene  of 
^^^  organized  flight.  The 
^\9      ^JjH^  great  table,  a  third  of 
%^-^pt  its  length  covered  by 

9  a  card  catalogue  of  al- 

phabetical precision,  was  strewn  with 
pamphlets,  some  of  them  tied  in  bun- 
dles and  others  cast  about  as  they  had 
fallen  from  rapid  assortment.  A  port- 
manteau was  near  the  door,  and  a 
pile  of  wraps  lay  on  the  sofa.    A  lady's 


THE     COURT     OF     LOVE 

ulster  hung  over  a  chair.  At  one  of  the 
windows,  where  the  velvet  curtains 
hung  trembling  from  the  haste  with 
which  they  had  been  pushed  aside, 
stood  Stirling,  the  butler,  presenting 
to  the  room,  where  there  was  no  one 
to  observe  him,  an  expansive  back, 
sleek  in  plumpness  under  its  stretch 
of  shining  broadcloth.  The  window 
was  up,  and  he  was  leaning  forward, 
watching  for  something  which,  it  was 
evident,  did  not  appear  ;  for,  as  he  with- 
drew his  head  and  closed  the  window, 
there  was  palpable  disappointment  on 
his  smug  face.  He  paused  a  moment 
in  thought,  his  small  eyes  sharply  ru- 
minative, a  finger  on  his  lips.  Then  he 
went  to  the  telephone  at  the  opposite 
side  of  the  room,  and  rang  up  the 
Charity  Office  in  a  business  part  of 
the  town. 


*• 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

^*  Mr.  Maxwell  ?  "  he  inquired,  with 
professional  deference,  when  his  call 
was  answered.  "  Oh  !  Mr.  Maxwell's 
secretary,  sir  ?  Only  to  ask  when  Mr. 
Maxwell  is  likely  to  be  home,  sir.  To 
—  to  remind  him,  sir,  that  he  is  to 
take  the  midnight  train  with  Mrs.  Max- 
well.   Thank  you,  sir.    Good-by." 

He  hung  up  the  receiver,  and  halted 
a  moment,  again  in  thought.  He 
straightened  then,  —  a  swift  decision  as 
visible  in  the  act  as  if  he  had  called 
and  some  inner  cleverness  had  coun- 
seled, —  hurried  over  to  the  window, 
threw  up  the  sash,  and  looked.  Appar- 
ently satisfied,  he  closed  the  sash,  took 
a  lighted  candle  from  the  mantel,  re- 
turned, and  began  waving  it  about  be- 
fore the  panes  in  a  rhythmic  signaling. 
There  was  a  rustle  of  silk,  but  he  did 
not  hear  it;  and  thus  heralded,  Mrs. 
..  3 


# 


THE     COURT     OF     LOVE 

Maxwell  appeared  on  the  threshold  and 
began  looking  at  him  in  an  amazement 
tempered  by  the  kindliest  feeling.  She 
was  a  slender  woman,  hollow-cheeked 
and  dark,  with  shadows  under  her  violet 
eyes,  and  the  hint  of  significant  lines 
about  her  pretty  mouth.  She  wore  her 
traveling  dress  and  her  hat. 

"Stirling!"  she  said,  in  a  voice  in 
which  authority  was  qualified  by  sur- 
prise. 

He  turned  with  a  twirl  of  his  large 
yet  agile  person,  and,  faultlessly  obse- 
quious, set  the  candle  back  on  the 
mantel. 

"  Stirling,"  said  the  lady,  her  voice 
now  touched  by  curiosity,  "  what  are 
you  doing  with  that  candle  ?" 

Stirling  replied  at  once,  with  ease 
and  gravity. 

"  Gymnastics,  Mrs.  Maxwell.  I  find 
4 


THE     COURT     OF     LOVE 

myself  a  little  relaxed  after  being  in 
the  house  all  day.'' 

The  lady  advanced  to  the  chair 
where  her  ulster  hung,  and  probed  the 
pockets  for  gloves  and  veil,  which,  find- 
ing, she  returned  again  to  their  re- 
cess. 

"  Well,  you  don't  need  a  candle, 
do  you  ? "  she  asked  vaguely ;  and  Stir- 
ling answered  with  the  same  grave 
assurance : 

"  My  clubs  are  in  my  room,  Mrs. 
Maxwell.    So  I  —  I  took  a  candle." 

**  Oh  ! "  said  the  lady,  her  mind  on 
other  things.  She  walked  to  the  table, 
and  began  displacing  the  manuscripts 
with  uncertain  fingers,  while  the  man 
watched  her  in  hot  impatience.  Sud- 
denly she  looked  up  at  him. 

"  Does  Mr.  Maxwell  intend  to  take 
these  with  him  ?  " 
5 


THE    COURT     OF    LOVE 


''  Some  of  them,  I  believe,  Mrs. 
Maxwell.  I  was  to  leave  them  exactly 
as  he  did  when  he  went  away  this 
morning.'* 

She  continued  poking  in  an  absent 
fashion,  that,  as  Stirling  knew,  did  her 
no  good,  and  might  cause  him  some 
harm. 

"  There  's  no  message  from  him  ? '' 
she  said  at  last,  looking  up  from  her 
desultory  amusement. 

*'  I  took  the  liberty  of  telephoning 
the  Charity  Office  a  minute  ago,  mum. 
Mr.  Maxwell  was  detained  by  a  meet- 
ing. Mr.  Maxwell  is  on  his  way 
home.'' 

She  was  listening,  but  not  to  him. 

"  Did  I  hear  the  door  ? "  she  asked. 
The  color  had  run  into  her  face.  It 
took  years  from  her  account. 

**  Yes,  mum,"  said  Stirling  hopefully, 
6 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

making  as  if  to  go.  "  I  'm  sure  you  did, 
mum." 

Instantly  she  was  all  hurry  and  zeal. 

''Strap  them  up!''  she  ordered, 
pointing  to  the  rugs.  "  I  '11  meet 
him." 

The  moment  she  was  over  the  sill, 
Stirling  seized  the  candle  and  ran  again 
to  the  window.  There  he  signaled  fit- 
fully for  a  moment,  and  then  opened 
the  window  and  spoke : 

''  They  '11  take  the  midnight  train, 
if  he 's  here  in  time.  Doubtful,  — 
doubtful,  I  say.  Come  round  in  five 
minutes  and  see  whether  he's  here. 
Three  waves  - —  so  —  means  '  yes.' 
Bring  the  beer  round  the  back  way." 

He  closed  the  window  in  noiseless 
haste,  and  when  Mrs.  Maxwell,  an- 
nounced again  by  the  sifting  rustle  of 
silk,  entered  the  room,  he  was  on  his 
7 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

knees  rolling  wraps  fastidiously.  All 
the  color  had  gone  out  of  her  face. 

"  It  was  n't  he/'  she  said,  with  the 
indifference  of  one  used  to  disappoint- 
ment.   "Stirling! '' 

"Yes,  Mrs.  Maxwell." 

"  Is  my  trunk  strapped  ? '' 

"  Yes,  Mrs.  Maxwell.'' 

"  If  any  one  calls  while  we  are 
away,  say  Mr.  Maxwell  has  gone  to 
Virginia.  Say  we  shall  be  absent  for 
two  weeks." 

"  Very  well,  mum." 

She  was  pacing  back  and  'forth. 

"  Stirling,"  she  said  irrepressibly, 
"  do  you  think  he  '11  miss  the  train  ? " 

The  butler  answered  fervently  : 

"  I  hope  not,  mum." 

It  seemed  friendly  of  him,  and,  in 
the  community  of  their  haste,  she 
turned  to  him  with   an  air  of  mature 


THE    COURT     OF    LOVE 

importance.  It  suited  a  playhouse.  It 
was  the  air  of  one  who  seldom  did  real 
duties,  but  innocently  took  the  credit 
of  them. 

"  Remember,  Stirling,  I  leave  you 
in  charge  of  the  house.  I  have  im- 
plicit confidence  in  you." 

"  Thank  you,  mum,"  said  the  butler. 

There  was  a  bang  of  the  door  be- 
low, and  again  the  color  flashed  into 
her  face.  There  were  running  steps 
upon  the  stairs,  and  though  she  turned 
toward  the  door,  Peter  Maxwell  had 
reached  it  first,  and  she  had  to  meet 
him  before  the  butler.  Yet  she  did 
rush  forward,  crying : 

"  Peter  !   it 's  after  ten  o'clock." 

He  did  not  see  her.  Settling  his  eye- 
glasses on  his  firm  nose,  after  a  dab  at 
them  with  his  handkerchief,  he  went 
at  once  to  the  table  and,  frowning  over 
9 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 


their  disorder,  began  sweeping  up  the 
papers  she  had  troubled.    Peter  was  a 
sandy  man  of  medium  height,  inexpli- 
cably hkable.    His  blue  eyes  were  sharp 
and  foolishly  innocent  by  turns,  behind 
the  glittering  bulwark  of  his  glasses. 
His  head  was  bald,  with  a  tonsure  of 
red  crop,  and  in  some  fashion  that  also 
added  to  his  lovable  quality.    He  was 
a  combination  of  the  baby  and  the  steam 
engine,  a  man  cursed  by  an  insatiable 
activity  and  gifted  with  a  devotion  to 
statistics  and  their  attendant  pains.    It 
was  a  reactionary  fever.     He  was  not 
merely  master   of  these   dry  passions. 
They  mastered  him.     The   owner  of 
inherited  wealth,  he  lived  for  tabula- 
tion and  columns  of  figures.   They  were 
all   meant  to   work    out   the  good   of 
men,   for  there   brooded   also,    in    his 
odd  brain,  a  bashful  love  of  his  spe- 


10 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

cies.  He  was  a  philanthropist,  Httle 
as  he  looked  it. 

"  Stirling  ! ''  he  called  ;  but  before 
the  butler  could  reach  him,  Mrs. 
Maxwell  was  at  his  side.  Her  atti- 
tude clamored  for  notice,  not  from 
mere  egotism,  but  because,  experience 
told  her,  if  he  were  not  reminded  of 
earthly  ties,  he  might  escape  her,  and 
their  trip  die  prematurely.  At  the  touch 
of  her  hand  on  his  arm,  he  looked  at 
her,  first  absorbedly,  then  benevolently. 

"  Tie  these  up,''  he  said,  passing  Stir- 
ling a  bundle  of  papers.  Then,  as  he 
rapidly  assorted,  tucking  into  drawers 
and  pigeonholes,  he  remarked: 

"  Hullo,  Kit!  I  Ve  heard  from  Jack 
Silverstream.'' 

*'Your  trunk  isn't  quite  ready,"  said 
his  wife,  in  the  cheerful  expansiveness 
of  one  who  heartens  herself,  but  vainly. 
II 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

'*  Don't  you  want  to  run  up  and  finish, 
dear?" 

"  My  old  chum,  you  know.  Silver- 
stream,"  continued  Peter.  "  Most  ex- 
traordinary piece  of  luck.  Letter  from 
him,  written  from  London." 

Mrs.  Maxwell  spoke  soothingly  : 

"Yes,  dear.  Tell  me  about  it  on  the 
train.  You're  not  going  to  take  a  lot 
of  papers,  are  you  ?" 

'*  Jack's  publishers  want  a  book  on 
Amusements  for  the  Insane.  Jack  re- 
commended me.  In  two  months.  I  'm 
to  rush  it  —  rush  it." 

"  Well,  dear,  see  to  your  trunk. 
There  's  a  good  boy  !  Throat  all  right 
to-day?" 

"  Stirling  !  "  said  Mr.  Maxwell. 

"  Yes,  sir." 

"  Put  a  change  into  a  grip.  Chuck 
these  in,  too." 

12 


THE     COURT     OF     LOVE 

He  thrust  a  bundle  of  papers  into 
the  butler's  hand,  and  Stirling,  trans- 
fixed for  a  moment  with  the  unplea- 
sant surprise  of  it,  stared  him  in  the 
face,  looked  wildly  at  the  candle  on  the 
mantel,  and  then,  conquered  by  cir- 
cumstances, left  the  room.  Peter  Max- 
well, when  he  had  his  own  way,  thought 
of  statistics ;  but  occasionally  events 
were  such  that  he  had  to  consider  his 
wife.  This  was  a  moment  that  must 
be  met.  He  turned  to  her  in  a  rueful 
yet  dogged  fashion,  and  began:  *'Kit!" 

She  was  looking  at  him  hotly. 
There  were  signs  of  tears  in  the  angry 
eyes  and  about  her  tight-shut  mouth. 
Peter  grew  sulky,  as  men  and  women 
must  when  they  find  themselves  pre- 
judged. 

"  I  'm  awfully  sorry,  Kit,''  he  said. 

She  was  silent.  He  was  aggrieved.  It 
13 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 


seemed  a  shame  to  have  a  wife  who 
would  refuse  him  a  hand  when  he  was 
down. 

"  The  fact  is,  Kit/*  he  said  irascibly, 
"  I  could  n't  any  more  take  this  trip 
than  I  could  eat  my  head.  I  Ve  got  to 
write  my  book.  I  Ve  got  to  write  it 
now.'' 

"Why  have  you?" 

He  stammered,  and  his  bald  head 
reddened.  Then  he  answered,  in  im- 
memorial phrase  :  "  Because  I  have." 
That  seemed  deficient  in  warmth  of 
originality,  and  he  added,  like  a  child 
in  the  sulks :  "  It 's  the  chance  of  a 
lifetime." 

She  smiled  upon  him  speciously. 

"Take  your  vacation,  dear.  Do  your 
writing  after  we  come  back." 

"  Vacation  !  George,  Kit !  don't  you 
see  what  I  've  got  to  do  ?  F  ve  got  to 
14 


THE     COURT     OF     LOVE 

spend  the  next  two  weeks  investigat- 
ing." 

"  You  've  done  nothing  but  investi- 
gate since  I  Ve  known  you." 

''  No,  I  have  n't.  Kit,  no,  I  have  n't." 
He  avowed  it  with  a  boyish  eagerness. 
"  I  Ve  tabulated.  This  is  different.  It 
must  be  vivid,  Jack  says,  vivid.  What 
I  need  now  is  color.  I  must  take  two 
weeks  for  the  asylums." 

She  melted.  She  could  pardon  him 
any  misbegotten  taste  if  only  she  might 
share  it  with  him. 

"  We  won't  think  of  Virginia,"  she 
said,  in  sweet  concession.  "  Have  your 
old  asylums.    I  '11  go  with  you." 

His  face  fell  disconcertingly,  and, 
wise  in  signs  of  matrimonial  weather, 
she  understood. 

"  No,    no  !  "    she    cried    jealously ; 
"  you  can  go  alone." 
15 


THE     COURT    OF    LOVE 


Peter  spoke  in  that  easy  fashion 
which  indicates  the  mind  driven  to 
elaborate  defense. 

"  These  are  investigations,  Kit.  You 
know  —  investigations !  The  very 
things  you  hate." 

This  he  presented  her  with  an  air  of 
happy  discovery.  She  was  turning  away 
in  that  finahty  he  knew,  deplored,  and 
yet  welcomed  as  a  practical  solution 
and  time-saver.  It  was  a  pity,  as  much 
of  a  pity  as  anything  he  experienced ; 
yet  when  she  had  swept  away  and  had 
gone  up  to  cry,  he  could  undoubtedly 
return  to  his  card  catalogues  and  his 
printed  blanks.  She  stopped.  Hot 
blood  came  up  in  her. 

"  Peter,''  she  said,  "  how  long  have 
I  waited  for  this  holiday?*' 

He  was  staring  at  her  like  a  culprit 
sorry  for  countless  things,  all  touching 
i6 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

himself:  sorry  it  had  been  necessary 
to  commit  the  crime,  sorry  the  sen- 
tence is  so  long  in  coming. 

"  I  have  waited/'  said  Mrs.  Maxwell, 
"exactly  three  years." 

''  Well !  "  said  Peter.  He  said  it  re- 
gretfully, yet  his  haste  prompted  him 
to  add :  "  Now,  Kit,  you  know  the 
book  has  got  to  be  done,  and  I  've  only 
two  months  to  do  it  in." 

''  And  I,"  said  Mrs.  Maxwell  mag- 
nificently, **  have  only  one  life  on  this 
planet." 

But  Peter  missed  that.  The  tele- 
phone bell  rang,  and  he  hurried  over, 
as  to  a  temporary  refuge,  and  an- 
swered : 

"  Hullo !    Hold    on  !    Can't    hear  ! 

Who  ?    Silverstream  ?    Well  —  Jack  ! 

Thought  you  were  in   London.    Got 

your  letter.    Take  their  offer  ?  Well,  I 

^7 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

should  say.  Starting  to-night  —  make 
a  tour  of  the  asylums  —  after  material, 
you  know.  Vivid,  something  vivid. 
Run  round  here,  can't  you  ?  All  right. 
Good-by." 

*'  Are  you  starting  to-night  ?''  asked 
his  wife,  in  a  tone  of  gentle  interest. 
"  Are  you,  indeed  ?  " 

He  looked  at  her,  shamefaced. 

"  I  can't  do  better,"  he  said  spe- 
ciously. '*  There  's  a  train  at  eleven- 
forty." 

''  And  you  have  invited  Mr.  Silver- 
stream  over  to  share  your  last  half  hour 
at  home." 

"  Good  God,  Kit !  I  have  n't  seen 
Jack  for  years." 

Two  large  tears  gathered  in  Mrs. 
Maxwell's  violet  eyes,  and  rolled  down 
her  cheeks. 

"  Peter,"  she  said,  in  a  chokingvoice, 
i8 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

"  this  very  day  I  had  a  letter  from  my 
old  chum,  Julia  Leigh.  She  asked  me 
to  visit  her.  I  telegraphed  a  refusal.  I 
said  you  and  I  were  going  on  a  trip. 
Jack  Silverstream  has  only  to  beckon  " 
—  She  cast  herself  on  the  sofa,  and 
buried  her  face  in  the  pillows. 

Peter  Maxwell  drew  out  his  watch 
and  stole  a  guilty  glance  at  it.  Then, 
as  if  mere  ink  and  paper  fascinated  him, 
he  took  a  pamphlet  from  the  table  and 
ran  rapidly  down  it,  while  he  laid  a 
kindly  hand  on  his  wife's  head.  He 
patted  the  dark  pompadour  as  if  it  had 
been  a  dog. 

"  I  'm  awfully  sorry.  Kit,''  he  im- 
provised, reading  absorbedly  ;  "  truly, 
I  am.    There,  you  're  quite  upset ! " 

"  That 's  clever  of  you,"  came  from 
the  pillows.  "  Few  persons  would  have 
guessed  it." 

19 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

"  I  '11  wire  you/'  said  Peter  gener- 
ously, folding  the  paper  and  putting  it 
in  his  pocket.  "  I  '11  wire  you  at  once. 
You  're  tired,"  he  added,  from  a  wider 
grasp  of  the  situation.  Then,  with  an 
air  of  bright  discovery,  "  Why  not  run 
away  by  yourself  for  a  week  ?  There  's 
that  Rest  Cure  you  liked." 

Stirling's  step  was  at  the  door,  and 
she  sat  up,  turning  a  tear-wet  face  away 
from  them  both,  and  offering  a  back 
ostentatiously  composed.  It  was  the 
time  to  strike. 

"  Stirling,"  said  Peter,  "  get  me  a 
cab." 

"  Yes,  sir." 

Again  Stirling  disappeared. 

"  I  '11  run  up  and  pack,  dear.  You 
be  here  when  I  get  through.  If  Jack 
comes"  — 

She  turned   to   him  drearily,  mop- 

20    ' 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

ping  her  cheeks,  and  he  sped  upstairs 
whistling.  Peter  always  whistled  when 
he  was  naughty.  Mrs.  Maxwell  busied 
herself  in  composing  her  face.  She 
wanted  above  all  things  to  be  a  good 
wife ;  and  a  good  wife,  religion,  not 
experience,  told  her,  hopeth  all  things, 
endureth  all  things.  Again  there  was 
Stirling,  —  this  time  with  a  card.  The 
surprise  of  it  helped  to  dry  her  tears, 
and  with  one  sniff  she  took  it,  read  it, 
and  cried  out : 
'^Julia!'' 


II 


pl^^^^ULIA   LEIGH 

-^  '^.^  entered    almost 


had 
upon 


j^i  the  butler's  heels.  She 
^^'  was  tall,   young,   and 

J^j  4i  sweet.     Her    plumed 

i^^^P^ffi!  hat  became  her,  and 

):j^j^(^/y?;^  Ill  11 

^-^^  ^-^ ^  ^  her  blue-gray  cloak 
was  beautiful.  Her  face  had  the  color 
of  health,  there  were  unexpected  dim- 
ples in  queer  corners  of  it,  and  two 
living  devils  of  mischief  lurked  in  her 
brown  eyes.  The  women  embraced 
rapturously,  Mrs.  Maxwell  with  a  cer- 
tain abandon,  as  one  who  had  longed 
for  sympathy  not  five  minutes  before, 
and  Julia  in  a  freakish  gayety. 

"  Julia  ! ''    she    repeated,   after  her 

22 


THE    COURT    OF    LOVE 

friend's  cry.  "  Julia  Leigh,  escaped 
from  foreign  watering-places.  After 
nine  years'  imprisonment  with  hard 
labor.'' 

"  Where  is  he,  dear  ? "  asked  Mrs. 
Maxwell. 

"  Great  -  uncle  ?  "  inquired  Julia. 
Then  she  looked  piously  up  to  heaven, 
and  the  imps  in  her  eyes  made  faces 
at  the  ceiling. 

"Julia!"  breathed  Mrs.  Maxwell 
again,  this  time  in  pretty  censure. 

"  I  can't  help  it,  Kate,"  said  the  girl 
rapidly.  ''  I  can't  regret  him.  I  was 
nurse,  companion,  football,  doormat. 
He 's  gone,  his  hypochondria  with 
him." 

Mrs.  Maxwell  brightened. 

"  I  hope  he  left  you  something." 

"  My  dear,  he  did.  I  am  deliriously 
rich,  and  I  spend  his  money  like  water." 
23 


THE    COURT    OF    LOVE 

"  You  wrote  from  Winterpool. 
Have  you  settled  there  ? " 

"  I  have.'* 

"Alone?'' 

"  Not  to  any  great  extent." 

The  dimples  came  out  in  droves. 
But  at  that  moment  it  occurred  to  Mrs. 
Maxwell  that  it  was  late  in  the  even- 
ing, and  that  on  this  topsy-turvy  night 
anything  might  happen. 

"  Take  off  your  things,  dear,"  she 
said.    "  I  '11  have  a  room  made  ready." 

"  No,  no."  Julia  detained  her  with 
a  hand.  *'  There 's  a  train  at  twelve. 
I  've  got  to  take  it." 

"  You  're  not  alone?" 

"  My  maid  's  down  in  the  hall,  asleep, 
eating  her  head  off.  I  started  this  morn- 
ing, Kate,  after  your  telegram.  You 
said  you  were  leaving  to-night,  and  I 
thought  it  would  be  complete  and  clever 
24 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

to  make  you  a  call.  But  there  was  a 
freight  derailed,  and  I  've  been  sitting 
for  hours  with  the  morning  paper  in 
my  hand  and  murder  in  my  heart." 

"  But  now  you  're  here  !    Oh,  stay  ! " 

Julia  shook  her  head. 

"  No,  child,  no.  I  Ve  a  houseful  of 
guests." 

"Where?" 

"  In  Winterpool.  I  Ve  been  in  this 
country  exactly  eight  weeks,  and  I  have 
a  home  and  fireside.  Kate,"  —  she 
turned  her  ruthlessly  to  the  light, — 
"  when  did  you  cry  last  ? " 

Mrs.  Maxwell  dabbed  at  her  eyes 
with  a  wet  little  ball  of  handkerchief. 

"  About  ten  minutes  ago,"  she  said 
savagely. 

"Happy,  Kate?"  asked  the  girl, 
with  a  sidelong  look  upon  her.  Then 
she  explained,  with  some  condescen- 
25 


THE     COURT    OF    LOVE 

sion,  like  a  fairy  godmother:  "That 's 
what  I  ask  everybody  now." 

Katherine  Maxwell  had  been  made 
of  sweets,  sugar-coated,  pleasant-heart- 
ed. Life  had  disappointed  her,  life  as 
Peter  presented  it  to  her;  and  her  gentle 
flavor  had  turned  to  an  extreme  acidity. 

"  So  you  ask  people  if  they  are  hap- 
py ? ''  she  inquired.  "  What  do  you  do 
when  they  say  *no  '  ?'' 

Julia  looked  at  her  keenly,  threw 
back  her  cloak,  and  settled  easily  among 
the  pillows.  She  had  some  time  to 
spare.  "  Interfere,"  she  said.  "  Take 
their  doll  to  pieces  and  stuff  it  over." 

Mrs.  Maxwell  dabbed  at  her  eyes 
again.    She  spoke  impulsively. 

"  My   husband   is   a   philanthropist. 

He  has  one   passion,  —  statistics.     He 

has  three  interests,  —  paupers,  lunatics, 

criminals.    I   am    neither  —  yet.    To- 

26 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

night,  as  I  told  you,  we  were  to  start 
on  our  little  trip.  A  man  asks  him  to 
write  a  book  —  and  here  I  am." 

Julia  was  looking  at  her  mournfully. 
It  was  a  sympathy  so  exaggerated  as  to 
suggest  that  it  might  not  be  entirely 
sincere.  But  Kate  was  not  the  one  to 
cavil  at  it.  She  was  too  hungry  for 
compassion  to  stick  at  the  brand. 

"  I  'm  afraid,  Kate,''  said  Julia,  with 
an  extreme  gentleness,  "  I  'm  afraid 
you  reproached  him.'' 

"No,"  said  Mrs.  Maxwell  firmly. 
"  I  kept  still." 

The  girl's  pretty  eyebrows  went  up. 

"  My  conscience  !  you  kept  still ! 
That 's  bad.  That 's  very  bad.  Great- 
uncle  used  to  keep  still.  Kate,  have  you 
discovered  what  every  woman  needs  ?  " 

"  We  need  to  be  loved."    The  violet 
eyes  brimmed  over. 
27 


THE    COURT    OF    LOVE 

"  Gammon  !  To  mother  something. 
Now  you  haven't  a  child/* 

«  No/' 

"  Nor  I,  worse  luck.  I  '11  steal  one 
yet.  Can't  you  mother  your  house, 
go  round  stroking  curtains  and  patting 
pillows  ? " 

"  The  house  keeps  itself,"  said  Mrs. 
Maxwell  drearily.  "  Stirling  is  such  a 
treasure/' 

"  Stirling  ?  " 

"The  butler.  He  runs  the  whole 
thing.  Other  people  lose  servants.  We 
never  do.  Stirling  keeps  them  con- 
tented. There  's  just  been  an  epidemic 
of  burglaries.  Our  house  was  n't  en- 
tered.  That  was  Stirling,  too." 

Julia,  her  eyebrows  furred  into  knots, 
her  lips  parted,  was  considering. 

"You  don't  care  for  charities?" 
she  asked,  "  mothering  the  poor  ?  Or 
28 


THE     COURT    OF    LOVE 

clubs — stepmothering  the  commit- 
tees?" Her  face  flashed  all  over  into 
an  absolute  delight.  "  Kate,  I  know 
what  you  do.  You  mother  your  hus- 
band." 

"  Peter  ?  "  said  Mrs.  Maxwell  se- 
dately. "  I  hope  I  should  if  he  required 
it.    However,  Peter  is  usually  well." 

"  Quite  well?"  inquired  Julia  slyly. 
"Don't  you  worry  a  little  from  time  to 
time?" 

Mrs.  Maxwell  weakened. 

"  Peter  has  a  delicate  throat,"  she 
owned. 

**I  thought  so.  And  you  bandage 
it,  and  you  make  him  bandage  it,  till 
he  wishes  Old  Nick  had  you." 

"Julia!" 

"  And  you  're  always  here  when  he 
comes,  and  ready  to  wilt  when  he  goes, 
and  he  's  lived  on  sugar  till  it 's  turned 
29 


THE     COURT     OF     LOVE 

his  Stomach.  What  did  he  say,  Kate, 
when  you  sulked  ?  No,  no  !  while  you 
kept  still  ? '' 

Mrs.  Maxwell  paused  a  moment,  ire 
piling  up  on  her  brow. 

"  He  said  he  would  wire  me.'' 

"  That 's  lavish,'*  said  Julia  toler- 
antly.   "What  else?" 

"  He  advised  me  to  go  to  a  Rest 
Cure." 

"  Intelligent  man  !  "  Julia  laid  a 
monitory  finger  upon  her  friend's  knee. 
"Kate,"  she  said,  "you  are  coming 
with  me  to  the  Court  of  Love.  What 's 
that  man  doing  ?  " 

Stirling  had  entered  with  padded 
footfall,  and  was  before  the  window, 
candle  in  hand. 

"What  is  it,  Stirling?"  asked  his 
mistress. 

"  Nothing,  if  you  please,  Mrs.  Max- 
30 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

well,"  said  the  man  despairingly,  "  no- 
thing." He  put  the  candle  back  in  its 
place  and  went  out  droopingly. 

'*  Stark  mad  !  "  commented  Julia, 
with  the  air  of  one  impervious  to  sur- 
prise. **  Now,  listen.  Kate,  up  to  this 
present  time  nobody  has  been  happy. 
For  that  reason  I  founded  the  Court 
of  Love,  and  since  I  did  it,  the  tem- 
perature has  visibly  gone  up." 

"  Don't  say  love  to  me,"  remarked 
Mrs.  Maxwell,  making  more  epigrams 
now  that  she  had  an  auditor.  "  I  'm 
married." 

"Do  you  think  you've  drawn  all 
the  blanks?"  inquired  her  monitress. 
"  Look  at  me.  Those  years  of  mine 
with  great-uncle  were  infernal.  I  went 
to  him  twenty.    I  came  away  twenty- 


nine." 


He  could  n't  help  that,"  said  Mrs. 
31 


THE    COURT     OF     LOVE 

Maxwell,  dazed,  from  habit,  when  it 
came  to  figures. 

"  He  never  tried.  I  made  no  friends. 
He  would  n't  allow  it.  I  had  no  lib- 
erty, no  lovers,  except  on  the  sly." 

"  Julia  !  " 

''  Yes,  I  did.  I  did,  I  tell  you.  Not 
the  ones  that  stared  at  me  on  the 
promenade  and  tossed  flowers  into  the 
garden.  But  there  was  one'' —  She 
paused,  whether  for  effect  or  because 
the  recollection  moved  her,  no  one 
could  have  told.  "  We  looked  at  each 
other  twenty-five  minutes  at  intervals 
every  day  for  a  month  while  I  walked 
behind  great-uncle's  chair  and  he  fol- 
lowed after." 

"He?" 

**  Yes,  dear,  the  man." 

"Who  was  he?" 

"  I  never  knew." 
32 


THE     COURT     OF     LOVE 

"  What  became  of  him  ?  " 

"  He  went  away." 

"  Without  speaking ! "  — she  had  the 
solution  at  last.  "  Then,"  she  con- 
cluded sentimentally,  **  you  lost  faith 
in  him." 

"  I  did  n't  lose  a  particle,"  cried 
Julia,  with  indignation.  ''  I  adored 
him." 

Mrs.  Maxwell  was  looking  at  her 
owlishly. 

*'  Yet,"  she  reasoned,  "  you  're  ab- 
solutely cheerful." 

"  Yes,  my  dear,  I  know,"  said  Ju- 
lia, with  an  incidental  acquiescence. 
"  However,"  she  added  brightly,  "  it 
broke  my  heart.  Then  great-uncle 
died,  and  I  vowed  every  penny  he 
left  should  be  spent  in  buying  for  some- 
body the  fun  I  'd  missed.  I  found  an 
estate  at  Winterpool,  and  turned  the 
33 


THE    COURT     OF    LOVE 

house  into  Aladdin's  palace.  Once 
there,  wish  and  you  get  it." 

"  Get  what  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Maxwell 
practically,  out  of  her  fog.     ' 

"  Your  heart's  desire.'' 

Mrs.  Maxwell  mused. 

"  The  Court  of  Love  !  "  she  said. 

Julia  had  clasped  her  hands  over  her 
knees.  She  sat  there  looking  extremely 
well  satisfied  with  herself. 

"  Pretty  name,  is  n't  it  ? "  she  asked. 
"I  chose  it  —  well,  I'll  tell  you  ex- 
actly. Because  love  's  the  nicest  thing 
there  is,  and  there  's  going  to  be  more 
of  it  than  anything  else." 

"  Love  is  n't  made  to  order,"  said 
the  embittered  wife. 

"  It 's  going  to  be.  There  's  going 
to  be  moonlight  all  the  time  "  — 

"Julia!" 

"  Well,  mostly,  Kate,  mostly.  And 
34 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

balconies  and  secret  drawers  and 
yellowed  letters  and  ringlets  and  harps 
and  pressed  flowers  —  and  maybe  night- 
ingales. That's  when  things  get  to  run- 
ning. But," — she  nodded  her  head 
with  the  air  of  knowing  more  than  she 
might  choose  to  speak,  —  "  we  're  do- 
ing very  well  now." 

Mrs.  Maxwell  looked  at  her  blankly. 
It  was  a  pretty  tale,  but  she  had  not 
taken  it  for  earnest. 

"  It  is  n't  going  on  now  !  "  she  said. 
"  This  madhouse  is  n't  actually  going 
on  now  ?  " 

Julia  threw  back  her  head  and 
laughed  becomingly,  showing  two 
rows  of  white  teeth  in  a  pink  mouth. 

''  Madhouse  !  "  she  cried.  ''  Mad- 
house !  That 's  what  they  call  it  in 
Winterpool.  We  vie  with  the  asylum 
there." 

35 


THE     COURT     OF     LOVE 

Mrs.  Maxwell  looked  at  her  as  if  she 
could  shake  her  to  get  hard  facts  out 
of  her. 

**  Is  it  going  on  now  ?"  she  asked. 

The  dimples  all  came  out. 

*'  This  very  minute." 

"  Who  is  there  ?" 

"  An  opera  troupe  gone  to  pieces 
for  want  of  funds.  Maggie  Hallisy,  — 
you  know  her,  my  old  nurse, — a  news- 
boy with  a  wooden  leg  (he  wants  to 
learn  modeling),  old  Jakes  that  used  to 
be  in  the  bank  with  uncle —  he  came 
to  see  I  don't  disgrace  myself,  but 
really  he  's  cock  of  the  walk  —  lovely 
people! ''  Stirling  and  his  candle  were 
again  at  the  window.  "  There  's  that 
pyrotechnic  man.  What's  the  matter 
with  him  ?   He  makes  me  nervous.'' 

"  Stirling,"  said  his  mistress  sharply, 
"  what  is  it  ?" 

36 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

"  Nothing,  mum/'  answered  the 
butler,  again  returning  the  candle  to 
its  place.  He  was  patently  agitated. 
"  Nothing  whatever." 

Julia  stared  at  him,  and  then  at  his 
back  as  he  left  the  room. 

"  His  coat  is  the  coat  of  a  butler," 
she  remarked,  "  but  his  eyes  are  the 
eyes  of  a  highwayman.  Now,  Kate! 
Slip  on  your  things.  You  are  coming 
with  me  to  the  Court  of  Love." 

"  Oh,  no,"  said  Mrs.  Maxwell,  "  no. 
It's  very  interesting,  dear.  I  like  to 
hear  you  tell  about  it;  but  just  now  I 
couldn't  possibly  leave  Peter." 

"Very  well,"  said  the  temptress 
coolly ;  "  stay  at  home,  then,  and  let 
him  leave  you." 

The  implication  stung. 

"  I  know  it,  Julia,  I  know  it,"  cried 
the  wife.  '*  But  after  all,  it  isn't  quite 
37 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

the  same  thing.    Peter  is  subject  to  a 
relaxed  throat/' 

Julia  got  up  and  went  to  the  mirror, 
where  she  began  to  tie  on  her  veil  with 
a  pretty  deftness. 

^'  He  's  going  away/'  she  assented, 
in  pauses  of  preening  herself.  "You 
said  so.  And  he  '11  take  his  throat  with 
him." 

"  I  can't  help  his  going,"  burst  out 
the  duteous  wife,  "  but  I  can  be  here 
when  he  comes.  It  might  easily  be  that 
he  had  to  give  up  and  come  home." 

Julia  saw  the  opening  for  a  neat 
retort. 

"My  dear,"  said  she,  delighted  with 
herself  and  her  nimble  thought,  "  men 
don't  come  home.  They  give  up  — 
and  go  somewhere  else." 

"  Oh,"   cried  the  wife  indignantly, 
"how  cynical  you  sound !  " 
38 


THE     COURT    OF    LOVE 

"  Precisely.  I  'm  striking  an  aver- 
age. Do  you  know  how  you  sound 
yourself,  treasure?'' 

Mrs.  Maxwell  was  in  the  hands  of 
one  stronger  than  herself.  She  knew 
that,  and  sought  to  save  the  day  by  a 
late  loyalty. 

"Julia,''  she  began,  with  a  manu- 
factured firmness,  "  in  spite  of  any- 
thing I  may  have  said,  I  am  devoted 
to  my  husband." 

"  Yes,  my  dear,  of  course.  But  if 
you  continue  to  be  devoted  in  this 
particular  way,  you  won't  have  any 
husband  to  be  devoted  to !  " 

"  Julia  !  " 

*^'  You  '11  have  simply  a  dull  man 
eating  breakfast  at  the  same  table,  and 
looking  at  his  watch  to  see  if  it 's  time 
to  get  away." 

"  Julia  !  " 

39 


THE     COURT    OF    LOVE 

"  Did  n't  you  write  me  when  you 
were  engaged  that  you  meant  to  ob- 
serve Peter's  lightest  wish  ? '' 

"Oh,  I  try  !  I  try  !  ''  breathed  the 
wife. 

"Well,  you  Ve  tried  too  hard.  You 
don't  know  what  his  wishes  are  now. 
He  does  n't  venture  to  have  any,  poor 
chap  !  Come  on,  Kate  !  Brace  up.  Get 
your  blood  to  moving.  Show  your 
husband  you  can  live  without  him. 
Do  that,  and  the  chances  are  you  '11 
live  with  him  as  long  as  you  like  — 
longer  ! " 

Again  Stirling  appeared,  with  his  air 
of  unexplained  discomfort  at  finding 
any  foreign  life  existing  on  his  grounds. 
He  took  up  the  wraps,  and  put  them 
down.  Then  he  looked  involuntarily 
at  the  window.  Mrs.  Maxwell  stood 
considering,  her  gaze  upon  the  floor. 
40   . 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

"  I  must  tell  Peter/*  she  said,  at 
length.    "  I  owe  him  that.'* 

"Stirling,"  said  Julia  briskly,  "what 
is  Mr.  Maxwell  doing?*' 

"  Packing  pamphlets,  miss." 

"  You  see,"  said  the  temptress  to  her 
friend.  "  Statistics  !  If  you  tell  him, 
he  won't  hear." 

"  r  11  go,"  said  Kate  unflinchingly. 

«  Good  girl !  " 

But  Mrs.  Maxwell,  adjusting  her 
coat  upon  her  arm,  was  weakening 
visibly. 

"  Julia,"  she  began,  "  Julia !  You 
won't  understand,  but  —  well,  I  had 
this  little  thing  ready."  She  took  a 
paper  from  her  chatelaine  bag,  and 
opened  it,  while  Stirling,  the  picture 
of  discretion,  moved  away.  Then  she 
read,  tearfully  and  with  much  expres- 
sion: 

41 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

"  To-day,  dear  heart. 
We  shall  not  part. 
Nor  will  the  morrow  —  morrow"  — 

"  Yes/'  she  concluded,  her  voice  break- 
ing, "  it  is  '  morrow.'  Oh,  Julia,  to 
think  what  this  was  to  be  !  I  meant  to 
lay  it  beside  his  plate  in  the  morning, 
perhaps  with  a  flower"  — 

Julia  was  looking  at  her  in  honest 
horror. 

"It's  not" —  she  was  whispering 
the  dread  supposition  —  *'it  's  never 
poetry  !  " 

"  Of  course  it 's  poetry  !  "  cried  its 
author,  with  ready  indignation.  "  What 
did  you  think  it  was  ? " 

But  panic  still  pervaded  Julia's  face 
and  tone. 

"You  don't  do  that  to  him?"  she 
cried.    Then  she  added  firmly,  "  Come 
along,  Kate.    Come  along  at  once." 
42 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

Mrs.  Maxwell  hesitated.  With  an 
irrepressible  impulse  of  tenderness  she 
tucked  the  paper  in  Maxwell's  great- 
coat pocket,  straightened,  and,  sniffing, 
began  to  tie  her  veil.  With  the  com- 
pleted knot  she  weakened. 

"I  might,"  she  faltered,  "I  might 
say  good-by  ?" 

Then  Julia  took  possession  of  her. 

"  No,"  she  said,  "  you  'd  flood  the 
house  and  lose  the  train.  Send  a  mes- 
sage by  that  masquerading  highway- 
man. Stirling,  it  won't  be  necessary 
to  disturb  Mr.  Maxwell.  Mrs.  Max- 
well will  wire  him." 

Stirling's  eyes  were  on  the  floor. 
He  had  an  exemplary  pose,  the  essence 
of  respect. 

*^  Very  good,  miss,"  he  said. 

Then,  as  he  was  preparing  to  follow 
them  from  the  room,  the  wraps  in 
43 


THE    COURT    OF    LOVE 

hand,  a  bell  rang  violently.  Mrs.  Max- 
well seized  upon  the  wraps. 

'*Mr.  Maxwell's  bell/'  she  cried. 
"  Go,  Stirling,  go.  See  that  he  gets 
off  comfortably,  won't  you,  Stirling?" 

"Yes,  mum,  thank  you,  mum." 

"  Remind  him  of  his  spray.  The 
antiseptic  tablets.  You  know.  Stir- 
ling." 

"Yes,  mum." 

"And,  Stirling,  remember  I  trust 
you  implicitly." 

"  Thank  you,  mum." 

The  bell  kept  on  ringing,  and  the 
two  women,  as  if  it  were  an  alarum  to 
stop  their  flight,  fluttered  out  of  the 
room  and  down  the  stairs.  But  Stirling 
did  not  answer  it  at  once.  He  hurried 
to  the  window,  opened  it,  and  leaned 
out. 


Ill 


TIRLING,    magnifi- 
cently   deaf    to    the 
bell,  was  at  the  win- 
dow.    He    was    still 
leaning  out  as  far  as 
his  respectable  person 
could  stretch. 
"  Not  yet  !  not  yet ! ''  he  was  enun- 
ciating, with  cautious  violence.  "  Come 
back  in   ten   minutes.    Got  the  beer? 
Got"  — 

He  heard  a  flurry  behind  him,  and 
drew  himself  into  the  room  again 
as  Peter  Maxwell,  who  had  entered, 
carrying  his  portmanteau,  dropped  .the 
bag  to  the  floor. 

"Stirling,"  said  his  master,  "why 
45 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

the  devil  don't  you  come  when  I 
ring?" 

Stirling  closed  the  window  in  decor- 
ous haste. 

^'  I  beg  pardon,"  sir,  said  he.  "  There 
was  a  draught.'' 

Peter  brought  out  more  papers  from 
a  table  drawer. 

"  Where  's  Mrs.  Maxwell  ?  "  he  de- 
manded, from  that  trance  of  activity 
wherein  he  saw  and  heard  nothing  not 
appertaining  to  his  trade,  and  waited 
for  no  answers.  "  Gone  to  her  room  ? 
Ah,  that 's  right.  That 's  right.  Here, 
Stirling,  tie  these  up."  Tying  another 
bundle  himself,  he  knelt  and  crammed 
the  two  into  the  portmanteau.  "  See  if 
the  cab  has  come."  As  he  rose  from 
his  task,  hot  and  blown,  Stirling  ,was 
back  again,  and  with  him  a  man,  mod- 
erately young  and  entirely  good-look- 
46 


THE     COURT     Of    LOVE 

ing,  with  the  charm  of  a  frank,  free 
spirit  added  to  the  blessings  of  a  firm 
profile  and  martial  eyes.  He  was  de- 
lightfully made  for  the  rougher  uses  of 
the  world,  campaigning  and  endurance, 
and  it  might  be  fancied  that  the  subtle 
air  of  melancholy  about  him  would  fit 
him  to  the  wooing  of  my  lady's  lute. 

''Mr.  Silverstream,''  announced  Stir- 
ling, looking  as  if  he  hated  him  for 
existing  and  blocking  the  wheels  of  the 
evening's  progress. 

Peter's  face  was  at  once  suffused 
with  radiant  pleasure. 

"Well,  old  man!"  he  cried,  and 
advanced  upon  his  friend. 

"  How  are  you,  Pete  ?  "  inquired 
Silverstream. 

They  shook  hands  and  looked  at 
each  other  briefly,  but  with  great  good- 
will. Peter  thought  of  several  things 
47 


THE     COURT     OF     LOVE 

to  say  :  that  he  was  amazed  at  finding 
at  his  side  a  man  whom  he  thought  in 
England,  that  he  was  deuced  glad,  that 
Jack  was  looking  fit ;  but  he  condensed 
it  all  into  the  speaking  order,  "  Stir« 
ling,  bring  a  Scotch/' 

They  sat  down  together,  and  Silver- 
stream  pulled  out  his  watch. 

<*  You  said  you  were  taking  a  train," 
he  suggested.    "  When  do  you  leave  ?" 

*'  In  half  an  hour  or  so.  No  hurry. 
Jack.    Talk  for  all  you  're  worth." 

"  I  'm  not  worth  sixpence,  Pete. 
I  Ve  made  an  awful  mess  of  things." 

"No!" 

Maxwell  took  a  swallow  of  the 
drink  Stirling  had  brought  them,  folded 
his  plump  hands,  and  looked  benevo- 
lently interested.  "  No,  Jack,  I  can't 
think  that." 

Silverstream   sat  for   a   moment    in 
48 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

thought,  neglecting  his  glass.  His  face 
saddened,  and  Maxwell  thought  how- 
old  he  looked.  But  he  glanced  up  sud- 
denly with  a  quick  smile,  and  Maxwell 
at  once  decided  he  looked  young. 

"  Forget  it,"  said  Silverstream.  He 
put  on  a  fictitious  gayety.  "  Well,  Pete, 
you  're  a  married  man.  Fancy  !  I  've 
never  met  your  wife." 

"Never  met  her?"  repeated  Max- 
well. "Why,  so  you  haven't.  That 
all  happened  while  we  were  in  New 
York.    I  did  my  courting  by  letter." 

"  By  letter !  I  should  rather  say  you 
did,"  pursued  Silverstream  mirthfully, 
as  the  memory  of  it  surged  in  on  him. 
"  By  Jove  !    /  wrote  those  letters." 

Peter  was  smiling  unwillingly. 

"No,  Jack,  no,"  he  demurred,  "you 
never  did.  I  may  have  asked  you  what 
sort  of  letters  were  usually  written  "  — 
49 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

"  You  did,  Pete,  you  did,  and  I  told 
you.  I  said  you  'd  got  to  be  chival- 
rous and  valiant,  and  prove  yourself  a 
devil  of  a  fellow,  now  did  n't  I  ? '' 

The  slow  smile  on  Maxweirs  face 
was  gradually  widening. 

**  Well,  something  of  that  sort,''  he 
owned. 

"  I  told  you  if  there  was  ever  a  time 
for  you  to  oil  your  feathers  and  set  up 
your  crest  and  step  high,  that  time  was 
now  —  or  then.    Did  n't  I,  Pete  ? " 

^'  You  did." 

"  Well,  that  was  writing  the  letters, 
was  n't  it?  Virtually !  I  was  the  power 
behind  the  throne,  the  stoker  down 
below.  Tell  you  what  I  did  do,  though. 
I  withdraw  the  letters.  You  did  write 
'em,  Pete.  You  chewed  your  pen- 
holder and  blotted  like  a  hailstorm. 
But  there  's  one  thing  I  did  do.  Do 
50 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

you  remember  that  night  you  sneaked 
in  after  two  o'clock  and  flashed  a  light 
into  my  eyes  and  asked  me  if  there 
was  n't  some  special  pet  name  I  could 
think  of  that  a  lady  would  like  to  be 
called,  —  something  not  worn  thread- 
bare ? " 

Peter  looked  his  honest  shame. 

**Well,  yes,  Jack,"  he  owned,  "may- 
be I  did/'  But  immediately  he  sum- 
moned virtuous  pugnacity.  "  Well, 
what  if  I  did  ?"  he  demanded  ;  "what 
if  I  did?" 

"  Well  !  well !  "  said  Silverstream, 
relapsing  into  his  gloom,  and  brighten- 
ing again  as  Maxwell's  good  pink  face 
reminded  him  that  it  was  a  benevolent 
world,  after  all.  "  Anyhow,  you  mar- 
ried her,"  he  concluded  ;  "  and  you  're 
as  sleek  as  a  bear  in  summer  quar- 
ters." 

51 


THE    COURT     OF    LOVE 

Maxwell  also  sobered.  He  spoke 
with  a  dignified  and  likable  gravity. 

"  Jack,  I  'm  very  fortunate.  You 
must  meet  my  wife.'* 

"With  all  my  heart.    Delighted." 

"  We  must  see  you  married  yet,  old 
man." 

There  was  fat  philanthropy  in  the 
tone,  the  patronage  of  the  successfully 
placed.    Silverstream  raised  his  brows. 

"  That 's  the  matrimonial  common- 
place," he  returned.  "  You  all  say  it. 
Well,  your  geese  are  swans." 

"  My  wife  has  n't  a  thought  apart 
from  me,"  said  Peter.  He  had  not 
been  called  upon  in  years  to  formulate 
the  married  state,  but  now  that  he  did, 
a  glow  of  grateful  pride  came  over 
him.  His  chest  indubitably  swelled. 
He  began  to  think  himself  a  good  deal 
of  a  fellow  to  have  evolved  so  accept- 
52 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

able  a  pact.  "  We  have  n't  a  differ- 
ence/' he  said.  Then  some  echo  of  an 
argument  may  have  returned  to  him 
from  the  walls,  and  he  hedged  a  little, 
throwing  a  sop  to  conscience.  "  She 
—  she's  of  a  nervous  temperament,"  he 
added  weakly. 

"Well,"  said  Silverstream,  "marry- 
ing and  giving  in  marriage  are  not  for 
me  at  present.  Pete,  I'm  in  a  devil  of 
a  hole." 

Peter  was  immediately  the  solici- 
tous companion  in  arms.  "  What  is  it. 
Jack  ? "  he  inquired.    "  Broke  ? " 

Silverstream  shook  his  head. 

"  It  's  a  good  long  stretch  since  I  've 
been  home,"  he  began. 

"  Yes,  about  the  time  I  've  been 
married." 

"  Just  before  I  went — you  remem- 
ber my  sister  ? " 

53 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

"Yes.  Nice  girl.  Nice  pretty  girl 
with  brown  hair.'' 

"  She  married,  and  after  a  couple  of 
years  they  went  over  to  England.  She 
and  her  husband  died  there.  They  left 
a  boy,  a  little  fellow  three  years  old. 
Pete,  did  you  ever  have  occasion  to 
think  you'd  behaved  like  a  brute  ?" 

Peter  hardly  remembered  any  such 
incident,  but  for  a  comprehensive  an- 
swer he  pushed  the  decanter  across  the 
table. 

"  There  you  are,"  he  said. 

Silverstream  went  on,  in  a  remorse- 
ful musing. 

"  I  was  in  the  Soudan.  I  cabled 
them  to  put  the  little  fellow  into  a 
school." 

''  Of  course." 

"  I  did  n't  think  how  young  he  was. 
Hang  it,  Pete,  I  did  n't  think." 
54 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

**  No,"  said  Peter,  in  a  vague  and 
all-embracing  sympathy,  "  of  course 
not." 

"Then  when  I  came  back,  I  ought 
to  have  gone  to  England,  straight  as  a 
string,  to  look  him  up.  I  did  n't.  I 
went  to  Spa,  to  settle  one  of  our  fel- 
lows, invalided,  and  —  I  saw  a  woman 
there." 

"Ah,"  said  Peter  indulgently. 
"  Very  attractive,  very,  after  Africa." 

"  No,  no,  Pete,  you  don't  under- 
stand. This  was  —  you  can't  imagine 
the  kind  of  girl  she  was." 

"  Of  course  not  !  "  replied  Peter 
cheerfully.  He  was  returning  to  the 
epoch  of  the  letters. 

Silverstream  talked  now,  not  as  if  it 
were  a  confidence,  but  a  worried  mus- 
ing over  the  irreparable. 

"  I  did  n't  know  her.  For  a  time  I 
55 


THE    COURT     OF    LOVE 

did  n't  want  to.  Have  n't  you  ever 
held  a  thing  away  from  you  because  it 
was  too  precious,  —  you  know  you  're 
not  half  fit  ?  Well,  in  the  midst  of 
it  all  they  wired  me  from  England. 
The  boy  was  lost." 

"Lost?" 

"  Plainly,  stolen.  I  started  for  Eng- 
land within  half  an  hour,  and  stirred 
up  Scotland  Yard.  I  worked  with  them, 
and  made  more  mistakes  than  they 
did." 

"  Stolen  !  "  meditated  Peter.  "  Now 
what  for  ?  " 

"  Money,  we  assume.  The  boy  in- 
herits something,  and  the  papers  have 
kept  me  rather  prominent  of  late.  I 
made  some  lucky  hits,  you  know, 
through  the  campaign." 

"  Well !  well !  Any  clue,  Jack,  any 
clue?" 

56 


THE     COURT    OF    LOVE 

"  They  think  it 's  a  clue.  I  don't. 
They  swear  such  a  boy,  with  a  woman 
in  black,  sailed  ten  days  ago  for  New 
York.  Now  our  men  have  got  hold  of 
it,  and  I  Ve  offered  a  reward." 

"  It  's  a  bad  case,  old  man,  mighty 
bad.'' 

Silverstream  passed  his  hand  over 
his  eyes. 

"  He  's  such  a  little  fellow  —  and 
his  mother —  and  if  I  'd  gone  straight 
back  to  England  —  "  He  sat  up  and 
shook  himself  free  of  miserable  im- 
aginings. "  My  nerve  is  gone,  you 
see,"  he  owned  impatiently.  "  I  can  go 
through  one  campaign  on  the  top  of 
another,  but  a  thing  like  this  —  well, 
it  breaks  me  up,  and  there  's  no  use 
saying  it  does  n't.  Now  let 's  talk  about 
something  else.    You  '11  do  the  book  ? " 

"Tickled     to     death,"    said    Peter, 
57 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 


tickled  also  to  grapple  with  less  dis- 
turbing facts.  Peter  never  knew  what 
to  do  with  emotions.  They  made  him 
nervous.  **The  only  trouble  is,"  he 
continued,  "I  don't — frankly,  Jack, 
I  don't  feel  altogether  sure  I  'm  equal 
to  It. 

"Gammon!  of  course  you  are." 

Peter  reflected,  and  wrinkled  up  his 
brow. 

"  I  've  got  cords  of  statistics.  I  'm 
all  right  there.  But  I  'm  not  an  ob- 
server. Jack,  —  not  as  you  are.  You 
look  at  a  thing  and  write  it  down  so 
it  bites.    I  can't  do  that." 

Silverstream  had  sunken  into  his  ab- 
sent brooding. 

"  Oh,  that  '11  come,"  he  said  indif- 
ferently. 

Maxwell  also  mused. 

"By  George!"  he  cried,  with  the 
58 


THE     COURT    OF    LOVE 

pale  semblance  of  envy  which  was  the 
only  sort  generated  by  his  kindly  soul. 
"  The  picture  you  could  draw  out  of 
the  things  that  go  on  in  institutions! 
Now  with  me  it 's  different.  When  I 
get  'em  into  print/'  he  added  mourn- 
fully, "  what  are  they  ?    Figures !  " 

"It's  a  trick,"  Silverstream  assured 
him.    "You  '11  learn." 

"  Well,"  said  Peter,  rousing  himself, 
**  I  may,  but  I  don't  hope  it.  I  'm  only 
afraid  they  have  n't  got  the  right  man. 
The  one  thing  I  can  do  is  to  take  the 
first  step.  That  means  visiting  the  asy- 
lums in  course  and  getting  my  pic- 
ture." 

"Does  Mrs.  Maxwell  go?" 

"  No  !  oh,  no !  "  said  Peter  guiltily, 
adding,  in  a  pugnacity  addressed  to  his 
own  erring  self,  "She  'd  hate  it —  ab- 
solutely hate  it." 

59 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

"  I  '11  go  along,  if  you  like/'  said 
Silverstream  indifferently. 

Peter  beamed.  Even  his  spectacles 
seemed  to  glitter  the  more  bravely. 

"You  wouldn't!"  he  exclaimed. 
Dejection  as  quickly  seized  him.  ''  No, 
you  've  got  this  other  thing  on  hand." 

"  It  is  n't  on  my  hands.  That 's 
the  devil  of  it.  I  'm  absolutely  useless. 
When  I  meddled,  as  I  told  you,  I  did 
more  harm  than  good.  I  'm  giving 
them  a  free  hand.  They  wire  me  at 
the  club." 

-Well,  Jack!" 

''Yes,  it's  all  right.  I'm  glad  of 
the  chance.  It  may  keep  me  from  go- 
ing off  my  head.  I  won't  take  a  very 
wide  radius  with  you.  I  sha'  n't  want 
to  be  out  of  New  England." 

"No,  oh,  no,"  said  Peter  gay  ly,  ris- 
ing.   "  I  mean  to  take  the  institutions 
60 


THE     COURT     OF     LOVE 

in  course  and  bring  up  at  Winterpool. 
Winterpool  is  the  only  one  I  have  n't 
seen.  They  have  an  excellent  system 
there,  excellent ! " 

Peter  was  putting  on  his  light  over- 
coat, for  the  night  was  chill.  A  thought 
struck  him,  and  he  paused,  midway  in 
the  act,  and  thrust  his  hand  into  a 
pocket.  What  he  sought  was  not  there, 
and  his  face  cleared  slightly.  But  when 
he  had  settled  himself  in  the  garment, 
something  seemed  to  counsel  him  to 
greater  care,  and  he  went  through  the 
pockets  more  deliberately.  He  drew 
it  forth,  the  paper  left  there  by  a  lov- 
ing wife.    Peter  ran  it  over  frowningly  : 

"  To-day,  dear  heart, 
We  shall  not  part  — 
Mm  —  mm mm  —  ** 

Silverstream  started  out  of  his  ab- 
straction. 

6i 


THE     COURT     OF     LOVE 

"What?"  he  asked.  "What  is  it, 
Pete?" 

The  beloved  husband  answered 
brusquely,  as  one  defending  a  position 
to  the  last. 

"  Only  a  —  a  little  verse,  Jack.  From 
my  wife.  She  is  in  the  habit  of —  of 
commemorating  occasions  with  verse." 
He  bustled  up  to  the  table  and  pulled 
out  a  drawer  under  the  card  catalogue^ 
"V— V — Verse.  Yes.  Verse."  From 
the  drawer  he  took  a  package  of 
similar  slips,  tucked  the  paper  under 
the  rubber  band,  and  put  poesy  back 
into  its  retreat. 

Silverstream  was  watching  him,  irre- 
pressibly  amused. 

"By  Jove!"  he  ventured.  "You 
must  have  a  good  many  occasions  to 
commemorate !  " 

Peter  was  craning  his  short  neck 
62 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

and   looking  anxiously  over   his   own 
person. 

"  You  don't  see  any  more  ?  "  he  in- 
quired. "  Sometimes  she  pins  them  on." 

"  Not  on  your  clothes!  " 

"Now,  why  not?"  cried  the  loyal 
Peter  irascibly.  "  What 's  the  matter 
with  having  verses  pinned  on  your 
clothes  —  or  your  pillow  either,  if  it 
comes  to  that?" 

"Now!  now!" 

They  looked  at  each  other  fixedly. 
Silverstream  had  to  laugh.  Peter  feebly 
and  antiphonally  joined  him,  and  pre- 
sently they  were  roaring  together.  Sil- 
verstream contributed  a  fraternal  slap 
on  the  back. 

"  Good  old  Pete !  "  he  interjected. 
«  Good  old  man  !  " 

There   was    Stirling  again,    with    a 
prompt,  almost  an  imploring: 
63 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

"Cab,  sir?" 

Silverstream  sobered,  as  a  man  for 
whom  there  is  a  time  to  laugh  and  a 
time  to  go  on  journeys. 

"  I  '11  run  over  to  the  hotel  and  get 
my  traps,"  he  said.  "  What  train  is 
it  ?    Eleven-forty  ?  " 

"  Eleven-forty." 

He  nodded,  and  left  the  room  with 
the  air  of  a  man  used  to  starting  at 
short  notice.  Peter  stood,  apparently 
lost  in  thought.  If  Kate  could  have 
known  what  was  in  his  mind  at  that 
moment,  her  soul  would  have  flown 
back  to  him  on  wings  of  haste  and  love. 
He  was  musing  upon  her,  a  sane,  sw^^c 
vision  unclouded  by  discontent.  The 
memory  of  courting  time  was  on  him. 

"  Dear  girl ! "  he  said  to  himself. 
"Dear  old  girl!" 

But  having  made  the  remark,  he 
64 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

saw  no  reason  for  repeating  it,  even  to 
her  who  had  evoked  it. 

"  Stirling  !  "  he  called  cheerfully. 

"Yes  sir." 

"  I  won't  disturb  Mrs.  Maxwell." 

To  Stirling  it  seemed  better  not  to 
disturb  anybody. 

"  No,  sir,"  he  returned. 

Maxwell  spoke  with  an  air  of  hope- 
ful generosity. 

"Tell  Mrs.  Maxwell  I  '11  wire." 

"Yes,  sir,"  agreed  Stirling,  seeming 
to  contribute  to  the  same  fund.  "Mrs. 
Maxwell,  sir,  said  she  would  wire." 

"  Very  good.  Now,  Stirling,  I  leave 
rne  house  in  your  charge." 

"  Yes,  sir." 

Peter  had    taken    his   hat   in  hand. 
He  fixed  Stirling  with  a  mild  yet  man- 
datory eye.    "  Remember,"  he  said,  "  I 
have  implicit  confidence  in  you." 
65 


THE     COURT     OF     LOVE 


'<•  Thank  you,  sir/'  said  Stirling. 

Peter,  having  delegated  responsi- 
bility over  his  house,  left  the  room 
with  a  Hght  heart ;  but  Stirling,  port- 
manteau in  one  hand  and  candle  in  the 
other,  flew  to  the  window  and  signaled 
madly. 

"  Stirling  !  '*  came  his  master's  voice 
from  without.    "  Stirling  ! '' 

**  Coming,  sir,''  called  Stirling. 

He  set  down  the  candle,  and  fol- 
lowed, running. 


^^^^^^ 


IV 


ITHIN  the  great 
lower  hall  of  the 
Court  of  Love  were 
signs  of  high  expect- 
ancy. The  house  Ju- 
lia Leigh  had  bought 
for  her  masque,  her 
fantasy,  her  pathetic  earnest,  —  for  no 
one  yet  fully  understood  her  mind,  — 
had  been  built  for  a  millionaire  by  an 
architect  who  was  a  man  of  dreams. 
It  was  the  completed  work  of  his  life, 
the  product  of  his  imagination  and  his 
heart.  In  this  hall  was  a  great  oaken 
door,  leading  out  through  a  pillared 
porch  to  the  driveway  and  the  lawn. 
At  the  back  ran  a  line  of  marble  pil- 
67 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

lars,  and  beyond  them,  across  a  wide 
recess,  were  the  door  and  windows 
opening  on  the  garden  from  a  central 
court.  The  triumph  of  the  room  was 
its  stairway,  sweeping  up  from  the 
oaken  door  to  a  broad  landing,  where 
it  turned,  and,  after  the  space  above  the 
pillars,  went  on  again.  It  had  a  spring 
and  sweep  of  great  magnificence  and 
beauty.  It  invited  to  pageants  and  de- 
lights, the  pathway  for  gallants  and 
noble  dames. 

To-night  it  was  high  festival,  as  it 
was  always,  in  some  fashion.  The 
room  was  bowered  in  green  leaves  and 
delicately  alive  with  countless  flowers. 
The  scent  of  them  was  in  the  air,  the 
spice  of  pinks,  rose  perfume  and  bitter- 
ness of  autumn  garden  plants.  Julia, 
at  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening,  was 
walking  back  and  forth  through  the 
68 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

width  of  the  hall,  from  oaken  door  to 
window.  She  was  alone,  while  her  un- 
assorted guests,  in  the  rooms  above, 
dressed  for  the  fancy  ball.  In  her  soft 
white,  with  a  golden  girdle,  she 
looked,  not  merely  young,  but  pathet- 
ically sad.  That  was  the  charm  and 
mystery  of  her.  Nobody  knew  whether 
she  was  sad  or  merry,  whether  she 
was  turning  life  into  a  fantasy  because 
she  was  herself  fantastic,  or  playing 
hard  to  drown  dull  thoughts.  The 
guests,  who  adored  her,  did  not  know. 
They  called  her  the  Lady,  by  an  ardent 
unison.  They  smiled  when  she  bade 
them,  and  frolicked  as  she  invited,  but 
they  kept  a  scrupulous  distance,  and 
wondered  at  her.  Even  Kate  had  failed 
to  learn.  She  felt  that  they  were  liv- 
ing in  a  dream,  and  could  never,  by 
seeking,  assure  herself  whether  to  Julia 
69 


THE     COURT     OF     LOVE 

the  dream  was  earnest.  Now  Julia,  as 
she  walked,  shut  her  lips  hard  upon 
thought,  and  knotted  wistful  brows. 
Voices  rose  without,  and  she  hastened 
to  the  window.  What  she  saw  there 
absorbed  her,  and  the  dimples  came. 
The  first  newcomer  in  the  room,  a 
moment  after,  found  her  merry.  This 
was  a  wiry,  small  old  man,  dressed  scru- 
pulously in  the  black  of  service.  He 
was  smoothing  his  thin  gray  hair  and 
pulling  down  his  cuffs  after  some  dis- 
hevelment. 

"Jakes,"  said  Julia,  "Jakes,  you 
bloodthirsty  old  rascal,  what  have  you 
been  doing  ? " 

He  muttered  at  some  length,  and 
shook  his  head.  Then  he  cocked  a 
piercing  eye  at  her,  and  answered : 

"  Nothin'  that  I  Ve  got  to  account 
for.    I  can  tell  ye  that  now." 
70 


THE    COURT     OF    LOVE 

"  I  saw  you  under  the  lantern/'  She 
spoke  reprovingly,  yet  with  indulgence. 
"  First  I  heard  you.  I  looked  out  of 
the  window.  An  innocent  cab-driver 
had  stopped  before  the  door,  and  there 
were  you  up  on  the  box,  punching 
him.    Actually  punching  him  !  " 

Jakes  had  smoothed  his  person,  and 
he  now  faced  his  mistress  like  a 
friendly  equal. 

''  He  ta'nted  me,"  was  his  defense. 

"  What  about  ?  " 

**  He  said  this  was  a  madhouse." 

Julia  laughed,  in  a  mellow  under- 
tone. 

"Well,  you  Ve  said  that  yourself," 
she  reasoned.  "  I  've  heard  you.  What 
was  it  he  called  when  he  drove  away  ?" 

"  He  said  he  'd  be  even  with  me  — 
consarn  him!  " 

Julia  dismissed  the  driver  as  one  who, 
71 


THE    COURT     OF    LOVE 


in  a  world  of  freedom,  must  be  allowed 
his  little  joke. 

"  Who  came  in  the  cab  ?  "  she  asked. 

"  The  actor  that  went  in  town  for 
more  wigs.''  Jakes  spoke  habitually  in 
the  aggrieved  manner  of  one  who  finds 
himself  in  a  position  he  cannot  approve, 
and  yet,  under  protest,  must  remain 
there. 

**Yes.  For  the  ball.  Are  people 
still  arriving  ? '' 

''  Yes,''  he  answered,  out  of  a  renewed 
exasperation,  "  yes,  Julia,  they  are." 

She  looked  at  him  sweetly. 

"Jakes,"  said  she,  "you  really 
must  n't  call  me  that.  If  you  're  going 
to  be  a  butler,  you  must  be  a  butler." 

"  I  ain't  a  butler,"    averred    Jakes. 

"  I  'm  a  freeborn  American  citizen.    I 

swep'  the  bank  out  for  your  uncle,  an' 

if  you  're  goin'  to  make  ducks  an'  drakes 

72 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

of  the  property,  I  'm  goin'  to  stan'  by. 
I  've  known  ye  ever  sence  you  was 
knee-high  to  a  grasshopper,  an'  I  Ve 
always  called  you  Julia,  an'  I  always 
shall/' 

Mrs.  Maxwell,  superb  in  blue  and 
silver,  was  coming  down  the  stairs. 
Julia  waited  until  she  was  within  ear- 
shot, and  then  concluded  the  argument 
warningly. 

"  Very  well,  Jakes.  But  not  before 
folks.  Jakes,"  —  this  she  added  with  a 
malicious  dignity,  —  "  are  the  costumes 
laid  out?" 

He  swallowed  his  ire,  and  answered 
as"  if  the  prescribed  word  were  bitter 
to  him  : 

"  Yes  —  miss." 

"  Have  all  the  guests  selected  ?  " 

"  Yes  —  miss." 

But  the  by-play  was  lost  on  Mrs. 
73 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 


Maxwell.  She  was  walking  up  and 
down,  absorbed,  like  a  peacock,  in  her 
train. 

"  I  had  two  minds,"  she  said,  with 
an  anxious  brow,  **  between  this  and 
the  gold  brocade." 

Julia  stayed  her,  to  arrange  a  fold 
and  smooth  a  ribbon. 

"  You  are  a  dream,"  said  she. 
"Jakes,  how  many  costumes  are  left  ?  " 

"  Thirteen  —  miss.  Six  ladies',  seven 
gents'." 

"  Dear  me !  we  must  order  more 
to-morrow." 

Mrs.  Maxwell  came  awake  to  the 
solid  world,  and  momentarily  dismissed 
her  train. 

"  You  '11  be  swamped  with  stran- 
gers," she  observed. 

"  Yes,"  said   Julia,  with   ingenuous 
delight ;  "  is  n't  it  lovely  }  " 
74 


THE    COURT     OF    LOVE 

Mrs.  Maxwell  had  lived,  in  her  un- 
married state,  on  an  income  not  unlim- 
ited, and  she  had  served  on  charity 
boards.  Money,  she  knew,  did  wane. 
An  occasional  misgiving  had  sometimes 
come  to  her  in  the  midst  of  Arcadia. 

''  But,"  said  she,  "  where  is  it  going 
to  end  ?  " 

"  Oh,''  said  JuHa  hopefully,  "  it 
need  n't  end.  It  won't  end.  If  we  're 
crowded  out  of  the  house,  we  '11  go  into 
the  orchard.    I  call  it  fun." 

"It's  fun.  It  is  fun."  She  added 
thoughtfully,  "  I  can't  help  wondering 
what  Peter  is  doing  !  " 

Julia  rose  to  wholesome  banter,  as 
she  had  done  a  hundred  times  in  the 
last  two  weeks. 

"  Peter  !  "  she  scoffed.  "  You  know 
what  he  's  doing  :  putting  down  figures 
in  columns." 

IS 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

But  Mrs.  Maxwell  looked  a  wistful 
anxiety. 

*'  I  hope  he  sprays  his  throat,"  said 
she. 

*'  Consider  your  own  throat,  missy," 
cried  Julia,  spurred  to  extremities. 
**  You  must  wear  pearls  with  that  gown. 
Run  up  to  my  room,  open  my  box, 
and  get  the  necklace  you  find  there." 

"  May  I  ?  "  cried  the  faithless  wife. 
"  Not  the  antique  setting  !  " 

"Yes,  the  antique  setting.    Run." 

Mrs.  Maxwell  gathered  her  petticoats 
about  her,  and  fled  up  the  stairs  like  a 
madcap  boy.  Jakes  came  in,  with  the 
air  of  driving  before  him  a  tall  and 
melancholy  man  of  middle  age,  dressed 
in  a  gay  plaid  suit. 

"  Here  's  somebody  to  see  ye,"  said 
Jakes,  with  scant  courtesy,  yet  making 
it  apparent  that  his  derogation  was  for 
76 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

neither  person  before  him,  but  for  the 
mad  circumstances  where  they  all  found 
themselves.  Julia  went  forward,  hand 
extended,  with  the  air  of  the  perfect 
hostess.  The  man  was  loosely  made 
and  bony.  He  had  a  high-cheeked, 
cadaverous  face,  a  hook  nose,  and  sad, 
sunken  eyes.  He  looked  upon  her,  her 
grace  and  beauty  and  the  gentle  sweet- 
ness of  her  attitude,  with  an  incredulous 
wonder.  He  did  not  touch  the  hand, 
but  said  instantly,  as  if  he  could  not 
get  the  words  out  fast  enough  : 

"  I  'm  a  clown,  lady.  We  Ve  had  a 
week's  stand  here.    Maybe  you  know." 

"  I  'm  so  glad  to  see  you,''  answered 
Julia,  with  an  added  warmth.  "  We  're 
having  a  ball  to-night.  You  '11  stay, 
won't  you  ?" 

He  twirled  his  hat  in  both  uneasy 
hands.    She  read  his  hesitation. 

n 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

"  Or/'  said  she  graciously,  "  perhaps 
you  '11  stay  the  night."  Her  face  bright- 
ened with  what  seemed  rare  discovery. 
**  I  know ! "  she  cried.  "  You 've  brought 
your  luggage.    You  've  come  to  stay." 

Jakes  made  an  inarticulate  noise  in 
his  throat.  It  sounded  like  the  moan 
of  a  choking  animal.  The  visitor 
flushed  at  her  words,  and  his  eyes  bright- 
ened. 

"  Lady,"  said  he,  "  I  '11  tell  you  how 
't  is.  My  name  's  Eleazar  Bumstead. 
I'm  a  Vermont  man.  I  ain't  had  a  day 
off  for  twelve  year.  I  've  got  an  old 
father,  an'  I  send  him  my  pay  reg'lar, 
an'  glad  to  git  it,  though  he  'd  ruther 
I  'd  gone  into  the  kag  factory.  Well, 
it  ain't  no  rest  to  go  home." 

"  I  see,"  she  interrupted  him,  "  you 
want  a  vacation." 

His  eyes  brightened  incredulously. 
78 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

He  nodded,    his  doubting  gaze  upon 
her/' 

"Jakes,"  said  she,  *'show  this  gentle- 
man a  room.  If  you  feel  like  coming 
down  to  the  ball,''  she  added,  to  Mr. 
Bumstead,  **  we  shall  be  so  glad.  Jakes 
will  give  you  a  costume,  unless  "  — she 
paused  smilingly,  and  he  nodded. 

"  You  're  right,  lady,"  said  he.  "I  've 
got  my  own  make-up.  I  shall  feel  freer 
in  it." 

He  bowed  before  her  as  if  he  would 
gladly  have  prostrated  himself,  and 
made  his  way  to  the  stairs  ;  but  she 
called  him  back.  She  was  smiling  at 
him  as  if  he  had  the  power  of  doing 
her  the  greatest  possible  favor. 

"You  know  what  kind  of  a  place 
this  is  ?  "  she  said. 

Again  Jakes  gave  his  remonstrating 
grunt,  but  neither  noted  him. 
79 


THE     COURT     OF     LOVE 

"  I  heard  what  kind  of  a  place  it 
was/'  repUed  the  clown,  in  a  burst  of 
warmth,  "  but  I  never  'd  ha'  believed 
it/' 

<^  You  know  you  've  only  to  ask  for 
a  thing,  and  you  have  it,  if  it  's  to  be 
found.  Now,  Mr.  Bumstead,  what  do 
you  want  most  ?  " 

He  eyed  her  for  a  moment,  as  if 
asking  pathetically  whether  indeed 
she  could  be  trusted.  She  looked, 
she  seemed,  too  good  to  be  true.  He 
dared  it. 

"  Lady,"  said  he  bashfully,  as  one 
owning  to  first  love,  "  when  I  was  a  boy 
up  in  Vermont,  there  was  a  book  in 
the  house,  an'  I  never  've  seen  it  any- 
wheres else.  It  was  Gibbon's  '  Decline 
an'  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire.'  You 
ain't  got  any  of  the  other  volumes  ? " 

Julia's  eyes  moistened.    She  under- 
80 


THE     COURT     OF     LOVE 

Stood  him.  It  had  not  been  a  mere 
book  to  be  sought  for  on  shelves.  It 
was  a  dream  of  his  youth,  and  her 
hospitality  to  dreams  had  given  it 
body. 

"  There  's  a  big  library  upstairs,  Mr. 
Bumstead,"  she  said  gently.  "  I  'm  sure 
Gibbon  is  there.  If  he  is  n't,  we  '11  have 
him  to-morrow." 

The  clown  bowed  low  to  her,  as  if 
he  bowed  out  fervent  gratitude,  and 
followed  Jakes.  Immediately  the  door 
behind  her  opened  to  admit  another 
man,  a  short,  stout,  timid  man  in  cleri- 
cal clothes,  alone.  He  had  a  large  face, 
smooth-shaven,  and  it  was  overspread 
by  a  mixture  of  embarrassment  and  de- 
light. He  looked  like  a  child  who  had 
escaped  to  some  desired  goal  and  found 
himself  half  doubtful  of  his  welcome, 
half  fearful  of  a  just  pursuit.  But  he 
8i 


THE     COURT     OF     LOVE 

advanced,  in  a  dash  of  boldness,  hold- 
ing out  his  hand. 

"  You  '11  pardon  me,  I  'm  sure,"  he 
said.  "  One  of  your  maids  let  me  in. 
She  advised  my  waiting  to  be  announced 
by  the  butler,  but  I  was  in  rather  a 
hurry,  and  I  ventured  to  present  my- 
self. My  name  is  Clifford,  the  Rev- 
erend George  A.  Clifford." 

He  was  still  very  nervous,  and  Julia 
decided  at  once  that  he  was  lying  or 
going  to  lie.  She  responded  in  a  gra- 
cious haste. 

"  You  Ve  come  to  the  ball,"  she  said, 
with  effusion.  "  I  'm  delighted,  Mr. 
Clifford.  There  are  several  costumes 
left.  My  man  shall  take  you  to  them 
in  a  moment." 

The  Reverend  George  A.  Clifford 
had  made  up  his  mind  to  say  that, 
taking  a  long  walk  out  of  town,  he  had 
82 


THE     COURT    OF    LOVE 

paused  at  her  door  to  rest ;  but  he  found 
it  unnecessary.  He  had  taken  the  walk, 
indeed,  but  he  had  taken  it  to  bring 
him  to  a  goal  about  which  he  had  un- 
bounded curiosity.  But  he  was  a  good 
man,  and,  since  she  welcomed  him  so 
generously,  he  was  ashamed  of  subter- 
fuge. 

"  The  truth  is  ''  —  he  began  invol- 
untarily —  and  caught  Julia's  eye.  The 
dancing  imps  he  saw  held  him  spell- 
bound. She  laughed,  and  he  laughed 
also. 

"  Ah,  Mr.  Clifford, "  said  she  frankly, 
"  this  is  n't  a  house  for  disguises  — 
except  pretty  ones.  Nobody  needs 
them.  Everybody 's  to  have  a  good 
time  here,  and  no  questions  asked. 
If  I  were  told  to  read  your  mind,  I 
should  say  you  were  a  bit  curious  about 
us  and  came  to  see  what  we  do,  but 

83 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 


—  no.!  no  !  you  needn't  tell  me.  I  'm 
not  curious,  and  you  may  be,  if  it 
makes  you  happy.  Just  stay  a  bit.  Put 
on  a  costume.  Have  some  supper  with 
us.    You  '11  preach  the  better  for  it." 

A  little  billowy  thing,  all  drapery 
and  color,  had  floated  down  the  stairs. 
This  was  a  flower-girl,  her  small,  pointed 
face  eager,  her  costume  pretty  as  it  could 
be  :  only  it  ended  in  black  stockings  and 
no  shoes.  She  sped  up  to  her  hostess 
and  stood  on  tiptoe,  whispering.  The 
Reverend  George  A.  Clifford  stared. 
But  Julia  listened. 

''  What  ?  "  she  said.  "  I  can't  hear. 
What  is  it,  child  ?    Speak  out." 

Another  eager  whisper.  A  slender 
leg  dramatically  extended.  This  Julia 
regarded  sympathetically. 

"  These   do  very  nicely,"  said  she. 
"  Cotton  ?    So  they  are.    Silk  ?    Never 
84 


THE     COURT     OF     LOVE 

had  a  pair  ?  My  stars  !  Run  up  and 
tell  the  maid  to  give  you  silk  stockings 
immediately/' 

"Oh!"  It  was  a  cry  of  ecstasy.  The 
lady's  hand  was  seized,  a  bashful  kiss 
was  dropped  on  it,  and  up  the  stairs 
again  ran  the  little  cloud  of  brightness. 
The  Reverend  George  A.  Clifford 
found  his  heart  quickening  at  this  pleas- 
ing interlude.  He  felt  as  if  he  had 
taken  up  a  pretty  story-book  and  read 
a  page  in  the  pauses  of  his  sermon.  All 
the  more  must  he  return  to  his  dull 
task.  He  frowned  professionally,  to 
hearten  himself. 

"Now,  Mr.  Clifford,"  said  his  host- 
ess gayly,  "  here  you  are  at  the  ball." 

He  interrupted  her.  He  was  forced 
to,  to  get  in  a  word  at  all.  She  was 
too  sweet,  and  his  heart  sided  with  her. 

"  Yes,"  he  owned,  "  but  I  am  here 
85 


THE     COURT     OF     LOVE 


as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel.  I  am  the 
pastor  of  a  flock  "'  — 

''  I  see,  Mr.  CUfford,  I  see."  She 
was  all  sympathy ;  though,  he  thought 
jealously,  no  more  for  him  than  the 
flower-girl.  "  I  see.  You  want  to  know 
about  us.  That 's  natural.  What  is  it, 
Maggie?'' 

Maggie  had  advanced  from  the  door 
leading  into  the  lower  regions.  She 
was  a  sweet  old  Irish  woman,  smartly 
clad  in  a  short  dress  and  a  white  cap. 
She  carried  a  cane,  and  leaned  upon  it, 
and  in  the  protecting  shade  of  her 
skirts  came  a  little  lame  boy,  peering 
out  adoringly  at  Julia.  Maggie  spread 
out  her  skirts  and  gazed  at  them  quite 
worshipfully. 

''Look  at  ut,  darlint  !  "  she  com- 
manded. She  turned  to  Clifford,  with 
no  regard  for  his  cloth,  but  adoration 
86 


m 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

for  her  own,  and  sunnily  included  him. 
"  The  rale  ould  Irish  linen.  'T  was  the 
wish  of  me  heart,  and  she  got  it  for  me. 
And  a  blackthorn  stick." 

"  You  see,''  said  Julia  to  him,  in 
whimsical  apology,  "  we  're  children 
here.    We  play.    We  have  our  toys." 

"  Play  !"  repeated  the  reverend  gen- 
tleman. His  resolution  ebbed.  He 
felt  it  going,  and  recalled  it  crudely. 
"  What  of  work  ? "  he  quavered.  "  That 
is  what  we  need  to  hear.  Work,  for 
the  night  cometh  "  — 

"Work,  is  it?"  queried  Maggie, 
who  had  small  reverence  even  for  her 
priest,  and  none  for  a  dissenter.  She 
stretched  a  hand  behind  her  and  brought 
forth  the  boy,  talking  all  the  while  as 
one  who  merely  wanted  to  have  her 
evidence  ready  when  she  needed  it. 
**  Is  it  work,  then  ?  Who  is  it  works 
87 


THE     COURT    OF    LOVE 

harder  than  her,  the  darlint  ?  And  her 
pocketbook  wid  a  hole  in  the  bottom 
for  the  Ukes  of  us.  Timmie,  show  the 
gintleman  your  leg." 

But  Timmie  was  absorbedly  proffer- 
ing a  bit  of  clay  to  Julia. 

**Say!  "  said  he,  so  bashful  that,  now 
his  chance  had  come,  he  yelled  at  her. 
"  I  told  you  I  could  make  a  rooster, 
fust  go-off.    Ain't  that  a  dandy  ?  " 

"  It  is  a  dandy,''  agreed  his  lady, 
turning  the  object  of  art  about  admir- 
ingly.   "  Likewise  a  rooster." 

"  Timmie,"  commanded  the  old 
woman,    "show    the    gintleman   your 

leg." 

Timmie,  in  an  agony  of  propriety, 
looked  at  his  goddess. 

"  Tim  lost  his  leg  under  a  car,"  said 
Julia  gently,  offering  Clifford  the  ex- 
planation his  round  eyes  demanded. 
88 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

'*  He  has  a  new  one.  We  're  quite  ex- 
cited over  it." 

^^  Has,  is  it?"  cried  old  Maggie. 
"  Who  paid  down  the  hard  money  for 
it  ?  'T  is  no  common  shower  that  rains 
down  legs  from  heaven.  Timmie,  will 
ye  strip  down  yer  stockin',  or  will  I  do  it 
for  ye?"' 

Desperately  Timmie  did  it.  The  act 
disclosed  a  patent  leg,  whereon  Maggie 
was  the  next  instant  tracing  out  sundry 
lines  with  an  eager  finger. 

*'  Fwhat  's  that  ? "  cried  she. 

Timmie  had  lost  his  shyness.  He 
pulled  up  his  sleeve. 

"  J.  L.  !  "  he  announced,  in  a  burst 
of  adoration.  *'  J.  L.  That  's  what  it 
is.  I  carved  it  there.  I  pricked  it  into 
my  arm,  too.  That's  Injy  ink.  J.  L., 
same  's  my  leg.  Them  's  her  initials. 
She  can  have  me  if  she  wants  to."  And 
89 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 


Timmie  fled  out  of  the  room,  jerkily, 
in  a  bashful  spasm. 

"  That  's  fwhat  's  done  here/'  an- 
nounced Maggie  to  the  Reverend 
George  A.  Clifford.  She  seemed  to 
have  probed  his  mood  exactly.  "  Look 
at  me,  sir.  I  was  one  foot  in  the  grave 
wid  the  bronkitties  on  me  pipes  and 
the  misery  in  me  back ''  — 

Julia  had  a  warning  hand  upon  her 
shoulder,  but  Maggie  could  not  heed. 

"  The  charities  come  to  me,  bad 
scran  to  'em.  '  You  're  a  pauper,'  says 
they.  '  Come  along  to  the  Island. 
You  '11  be  very  gay  there,'  says  they. 
'Maybe,'  says  I.  'Anny  hill  looks 
green  at  a  distance.'  Then  she  drove 
up  in  her  carriage.  '  Maggie,'  says  she, 
*  there's  a  soft  bed  waitin'  for  ye,  and  a 
pipe  and  a  glass.  Come  along  ! '  says 
she.  Ah,  well,  well,  well !  "  She  dis- 
90 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

missed  Clifford  and  his  curiosity.  A 
smile  ran  over  her  old  face,  and 
wrinkled  it  delightfully.  "Fwhat  '11  I 
do  for  the  party?''  she  inquired  of 
Julia.  "  Will  I  jig  for  'em  ?  Will  I 
sing?    I  '11  sing  Foxy  Daly." 

The  gentle  hand  persuaded  her,  and 
she  turned  about  and  hummed  her  way 
out  of  the  room. 

"  Mr.  CHfford,"  said  Julia  whimsi- 
cally, "  there  's  no  harm  in  us.  Stay  a 
bit,  and  play." 

"You  are  extremely  kind,"  answered 
Mr.  Clifford  stiffly.  "  I  am  not  ac- 
customed to  large  gatherings,  except 
perhaps  the  League  Meeting  or  the 
Ladies'  Aid.  But" —  His  coldness 
broke  like  ice  that  had  been  long 
melting.  He  glowed,  and  cast  discre- 
tion to  the  winds.  "  If  this,"  he  said, 
"  is  the  kind  of  thing  you  do  here,  I  '11 
91 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

Stay,  by  —  I   beg   your   pardon  —  I'll 
stay/' 

Jakes,  having  installed  the  other 
guest,  was  pottering  down  the  stairs. 
His  mistress  called  him  : 

"  Jakes,  give  Mr.  Clifford  a  costume." 

And  as  Mrs.  Maxwell  came  trailing 
down,  conscious  of  her  pearls  and  of 
the  fact  that  houses  are  erected  for 
the  exercise  of  trains,  Jakes  reascended 
with  his  air  of  deep  distaste,  Clifford 
following  jauntily. 

"  Julia  ! ''  called  her  friend. 

**  Yes,  my  child." 

"  Julia,  what  do  you  think  "  —  she 
paused,  frowning,  to  formulate. 

"  Of  the  pearls,  dear  ?    Delicious." 

"  No,  no,  Julia !  what  do  you  think 
of  a  cycle  of  sonnets  ?  " 

"  My  child,  I  should  n't  know  them 
from  a  cycle  of  Cathay." 
92 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

"  I  thought  of  it  as  I  was  putting 
on  the  pearls.  I  wished  Peter  could 
see  me.  Then  I  said  to  myself.  Why 
not  a  cycle  of  sonnets,  a  record  of  my 
absence?  Listen,  dear.''  She  extracted 
a  paper  from  her  sleeve. 

"  Oh,  we   are  parted,  love.    What  shall  I 
say? 
We  may  no  longer  meet.   Ah,  well-a-day ! " 

She  glanced  up  for  praise,  and  there 
was  Julia,  lost  in  pure  abstraction.  "  Ju- 
lia !  '*  she  cried.  ^' Julia,  I  was  reading 
aloud." 

Instantly  Julia  roused  into  repentant 
zeal. 

"  I  was  listening,''  she  asserted  eagerly. 
"I  'm sure  I  was  listening."  Then  her 
eyes  danced  and  begged  forgiveness  for 
her,  while  she  owned  :  "  I  can't  stand 
things  when  they  are  read  aloud  — 
understand  them.  That 's  what  I  mean." 
93 


THE     COURT     OF     LOVE 

"  Run  it  over  by  yourself,"  said  Kate 
forgivingly.  *'  I  've  often  wanted  an 
impartial  opinion  on  my  verse.  No- 
body has  seen  it  but  Peter,  and  naturally 
he  's  prejudiced." 

"  Oh,  rather  !  " 

*' Julia!" 

"What  is  it  ?  Don't  keep  saying  my 
name  over  and  scaring  me." 

"I've  thought  of  something.  Wasn't 
that  a  clergyman  here  when  I  came  in  ? " 

"  The  Reverend  George  A  Clifford. 
He  came  to  preach.  He  remains  to 
dance." 

"  O  Julia,  would  you,  could  you 
just  show  him  these  two  little  bits  ? 
Ask  him  for  an  impartial  verdict." 

"  Gladly."  And  Julia,  in  her  turn, 
tucked  poesy  up  her  sleeve. 

"Jakes,"  she  called. 

The  old  man  was  coming  droop- 
94 


THE     COURT     OF     LOVE 

ingly  down  the  stairs.  He  had  shrunken 
and  settled  into  his  clothes.  With  every 
guest  his  face  acquired  a  deeper  gloom  : 
this  was  not  aversion  to  any  individual, 
but  to  all  strangers  in  the  one  dis- 
turbing part.  Let  them  be  guests,  and 
to  him  they  were  anathema. 

"  I  've  another  here,"  said  Mrs.  Max- 
well brightly,  in  the  eagerness  of  crea- 
tive throes, "  a  rough  draft.  I  '11  run  into 
the  library  and  polish  it  a  bit.''  She 
swept  away,  ever  mindful  of  her  pearls 
and  her  train,  and  Julia  said  abstract- 
edly, as  if  her  mind  were  elsewhere  : 
"  Jakes,  order  the  music  to  begin." 
He  was  motionless,  and  she  looked 
at  him.  Jakes  had  been  slowly  freezing. 
His  mouth  gaped,  his  eyes  were  wide. 
He  was  looking  past  her  at  the  win- 
dow behind  her  back.  Now  he  pointed 
at  it. 

95 


THE     COURT     OF     LOVE 

"Jakes!  "  she  cried,  "  what  ails  you? 
Don't  have  a  fit." 

He  still  pointed,  and  Julia,  frozen  in 
her  turn,  could  not  look.  There  were 
two  things  Julia  could  never  bear :  to 
be  shut  up  in  a  closet,  and  to  have  the 
unknown  behind  her  back.  She  quiv- 
ered like  a  frightened  horse.  "  Jakes,'' 
she  implored  him,  "what  is  it?" 

Jakes  was  speaking,  but  not  at  first 
to  her. 

"  It 's  more  'n  I  can  stan',"  said  he. 
"  By  gravy  !  Here  's  the  house  overrun 
with  ragtag  an'  bobtail,  an'  dark  lan- 
terns flashin'  round  the  gardin  —  look 
o'  there  ! " 

The  window  had  been  slowly  open- 
ing. Two  gaunt  hands  had  lifted  a  child 
over  the  sill  and  left  him  standing. 


^s^^^^^ 


^ 


_  ULIA  turned  slowly. 
Whatever  was  behind 
her,  she  had  to  face  it, 
because  Jakes  and  the 
|;i.  silence  together  were 
A'^  too  terrible  to  bear. 
She  glanced  first  at  the 
open  window,  and  then  her  eyes  fell 
lower  until  they  rested  upon  a  reddish- 
brown  head,  a  round  face,  snub  nose, 
freckles,  and  a  blue  suit,  —  the  equip- 
ment of  an  adorable  child.  Her  fears 
fled  in  a  whiff.  She  crouched,  after  the 
manner  of  motherly  womankind,  and 
held  out  her  arms. 

"  Oh,  you  cunning  dear  ! "  she  cried. 
97 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

"  Bedlam/'  remarked  Jakes  again. 
"  Bedlam,  by  gravy  !'' 

"Dear!"  the  lady  murmured  woo- 
ingly.  '*  Come  to  Julia.  Can't  you 
talk,  honey?'' 

The  child  advanced  on  steady  legs, 
and  Julia  got  greedy  hands  on  him. 
She  sat  down  on  the  floor,  her  back 
to  the  open  window,  and  there  she  and 
the  freckled  newcomer  cuddled  each 
other  with  enormous  satisfaction. 

"  Have  n't  you  any  folks,  darling?  " 
Julia  asked  him  meltingly.  "Well, 
never  mind.  You've  got  a  Julia.  Jakes, 
shut  that  window.  We  must  n't  have 
a  draught  on  him." 

But  the  window  was  in  use.  A  leg, 
covered  with  a  white  stocking  and 
ending  neatly  in  a  congress  boot,  had 
been  stretched  carefully  over  the  sill. 
A  woman  followed.  She  was  gaunt 
98 


THE     COURT    OF    LOVE 

and  eager ;  her  spectacled  eyes  were  on 
Julia  and  the  child.  Jakes,  petrified 
again,  could  only  point  at  her.  This 
time  Julia,  at  that  warning  forefinger, 
screamed,  with  nervous  irritation. 

"Jakes,  what   do  you  mean?"  she 

quavered.    "  Don't  stand  there  like  a 

showman,  pointing  out  family  ghosts." 

Jakes    opened   his    lips   and   spoke, 

himself  too  spectral  to  be  wholesome  : 

"  Look  o'  there  !  " 

Julia  rose,  the  child  in  her  arms,  and 

turned  to  face  the  new  intruder. 

"  I  've    got   to   see   you,"    said    the 
woman  briefly,  "  alone." 

It  was  Jakes  who  answered  pointedly : 
"There's  a  door  to  this  house." 
"  Go,  Jakes,"  said  Julia.    "  Go." 
The  woman,  standing  stark  and  still, 
broke  a  little  there.    A  tremor  moved 
her. 

99 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

"Oh,"  she  moaned,  "he'll  tell! 
he'll  tell!'' 

"Jakes,"  said  Julia  firmly,  "you 
are  not  to  tell.  I  don't  know  what ; 
but  simply  do  not  tell." 

"Tell!"  muttered  Jakes,  taking  a 
circuit  about  the  woman,  as  if  she 
might  infect  him,  and  then  pulling 
down  the  window.  "  I  ain't  likely  to 
tell.  I  ain't  particular  about  bein'  mea- 
sured for  a  straight  weskit,  my  time  o' 
life." 

He  went  scornfully  out,  with  an  air 
of  washing  his  hands  of  the  entire 
business,  and  the  woman,  as  if  she  had 
waited  as  long  as  nature  could  endure, 
darted  forward  and  laid  a  jealous  grasp 
upon  the  child.  She  drew  him  to  her, 
and  stood  with  both  her  hands  upon 
him,  guarding  him. 

"Don't    you   speak,"    she    bent    to 

100 


THE     COURT    OF    LOVE 

warn  him.  *'  You  speak  one  word,  an' 
the  bad  men  '11  git  us." 

Julia,  delightfully  excited,  pulled  the 
curtain  close,  after  a  glance  out  at  the 
night,  and  then  motioned  the  woman 
to  a  bench.  They  both  sat  down,  and 
the  child  stood  patiently  between  them. 
The  woman  turned,  with  a  suspicious, 
yet  a  challenging  frankness. 

"  I  s'pose,"  she  began,  "  anybody  'd 
think  'twas  queer,  to  come  in  by  the 
winder." 

"  Oh,  no,"  responded  Julia  cheer- 
fully, her  eyes  upon  the  child,  "  not  in 
the  least." 

The  woman  wore  the  air  of  having 
made  up  her  mind  to  some  confession ; 
but  now,  with  an  irrepressible  shudder 
of  faint  nerves,  she  groaned  again. 

"  Oh,"  she  breathed,  "  them  lan- 
terns !  " 

lOI 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

"  I  didn't  see  any  lanterns.'' 

"  I  did.  I  was  comin'  up  the  front 
path,  an'  they  flashed  on  me.  Then  I 
picked  my  way  round  amongst  the 
bushes.    I  did  n't  dast  to  try  the  door." 

"  Poor  dear  !  "  said  Julia  meltingly. 
"  You  're  tired." 

"  I  'm  beat  out,"  she  owned,  in  a 
piteous  candor. 

"  You  shall  go  straight  to  bed." 

That  wildness  of  entreaty  at  once 
came  back. 

"  You  promise,"  she  insisted.  *'  You 
promise  you  won't  tell." 

"Tell,"  said  Julia  scoffingly.  "I 
never  tell"  —  but  conscience  nudged 
her,  and  she  added  lamely,  *' everything. 
Come,"  she  wheedled,  beckoning  to 
the  child.    "  Come  to  Julia." 

But  his  guardian  kept  firm  hands 
upon  him. 

102 


THE    COURT    OF     LOVE 

"  No,  no,"  she  said.  She  continued 
her  confession.  "  I  'm  at  the  end  o'  my 
rope.  I  got  some  milk  at  the  bakery 
down  town,  an'  I  heard  talk  about  you. 
They  said  you  helped  folks  out." 

Julia  was  watching  the  child  in  a 
muse  of  adoration. 

*'  Is  n't  he  sweet  ? "  she  asked  irrel- 
evantly. 

"  If  I  told  you  nobody  ever  needed 
helpin'  more  'n  this  little  creatur'," 
said  the  other,  watching  her,  "  would 
you  believe  me  ?  " 

"  Poor  baby  !    Let  me  take  him." 

*'  No  !  no  !  I  can't  trust  him  to  no- 
body. Them  he  belongs  to  neglected 
him,  an'  there  's  others  arter  him.  All 
I  ask  is  to  git  down  to  Larkspur,  on  my 
farm,  an'  he  '11  be  as  happy  as  the  day  is 
long.  But  how  'm  I  goin'  to  git  there  ? 
They  watch  me.  Oh,  them  lanterns ! " 
103 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

Julia  recalled  herself. 

"  Whose  child  is  he  ? ''  she  de- 
manded. 

''His  father  's  dead,  an'  his  mother 's 
dead,  an'  them  that  had  the  care  of 
him  better  be  dead  for  all  they  done 
for  him.  Oh,  my  suz  !  if  I  could  only 
git  him  down  home." 

Jakes  had  appeared  again,  with  an 
air  of  abhorring  the  whole  situation. 
He  spoke,  but  with  averted  look. 

"  The  circus  clown  's  got  his  face  all 
painted  up,  an'  now  the  minister 's 
stole  his  clo'es.  They  want  to  know  if 
there  's  any  objection  to  their  swappin' 
clo'es  for  the  party." 

"  Not  the  slightest,"  said  the  lady 
absently.  "  Jakes,  order  a  bath  for 
this  darling  child." 

But  Jakes  had  more  to  offer,  and  his 
disgust  was  manifest. 
104 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

'^  The  circus  clown  wants  to  know 
if  there  's  any  objection  to  his  callin' 
himself  the  Vicar  o'  Wakefield.  The 
minister  put  him  up  to  't." 

"  Not  the  least."  But  her  eyes  were 
on  the  child,  and  she  remarked,  at  this 
point  :   "  Julia's  lamb  !  '' 

''  The  minister  wants  to  know  if 
there  's  any  objection  to  his  learnin'  to 
turn  somersets  an'  callin'  himself  some 
kind  of  a  clown." 

"  By  no  means.  O  pigeon-toed  love 
and  lamb-as-ever-was  !  " 

But  when  Jakes  had  withdrawn  his 
scornful  presence,  she  turned,  with  a 
wholesome  directness,  to  her  guest. 

"  Now,"  said  she,  ''  tell  me." 

"Yes,  yes,"  agreed  the  woman  eagerly, 

"  I  '11   tell   ye.    I  've   got  to  trust   ye. 

My  name  's  Hannah  Slate.    I  took  care 

o'  this  baby's  mother  a  whole  summer, 

105 


THE    COURT     OF    LOVE 


an'  him,  too,  down  to  Larkspur,  in  the 
State  o'  Maine.  Then  they  went  over 
to  Europe,  an'  she  died  there,  an'  her 
husband  died.  Little  Jackie  here  was 
left  alone,  an'  his  uncle  was  off  in  some 
outlandish  place  or  'nother,  an'  put 
him  into  a  school,  —  this  little  mite  ! 
Soon  's  I  heard  on  't,  I  sailed  over  to 
England  an'  got  him." 

"You  took  this  child?" 

Hannah  Slate  faced  her,  defiance  in 
her  mien. 

"  I  stole  him.  That 's  what  I  done 
—  stole  him.  Then  I  cHpped  it  for 
home.  I  did  n't  dast  to  take  the  cars. 
I  walked  miles  on  my  two  feet.  I 
slep'  behind  the  bushes.  They  're  too 
lazy  over  there  to  fence.  They  have 
bushes  high 's  your  head.  Now  they ' ve 
offered  a  reward,  an'  there  's  a  gang  of 
I-dunno-what-alls  arter  me  to  git  the 
io6 


THE     COURT    OF    LOVE 

reward,  an'  there  's  the  police  arter  the 
whole  on  us." 

Julia  rose,  breathing  power  and  pride. 

"Stay  here  with  me,"  she  coun- 
seled. "  Nobody  shall  touch  you." 
She  swept  across  the  room  and  rang 
the  bell. 

"  No  !  no  !  "  cried  Hannah.  "  I  Ve 
got  to  git  into  my  own  house  down  to 
Larkspur  in  the  State  o'  Maine.  That's 
the  place  for  me." 

Jakes  had  entered,  with  his  accus- 
tomed rigor.    Julia  spoke  rapidly. 

"  Jakes,  see  if  Mrs.  Maxwell  is  in  the 
library.  Ask  her  to  come  to  me.  Then 
take  this  lady  to  the  red  room." 

Hannah  Slate  had  fallen  into  her 
first  condition  of  nervous  tremor. 

"  Don't  ye  go  an'  let  anybody  else 
into  't.  Don't  ye  try  to  take  him  out 
o'  my  hands,"  she  besought.  "I  never 
107 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

can  let  him  go  in  this  world.    Never  ! 
I  tell  ye  that  now." 

Julia  was  walking  back  and  forth, 
thinking. 

"Very  well,"  she  turned  to  say,  with 
a  simulated  coldness.  "  Be  arrested, 
then,  and  lose  him." 

"  My  Lord  ! "  moaned  Hannah. 
"  What  a  world  this  is  !  " 

Julia  changed  in  a  moment.  She 
swept  over  to  the  meagre  creature,  and 
bent  to  her  protectingly. 

"  Trust  me,"  she  pleaded. 

"  I  've  got  to  trust  ye,"  returned 
Hannah  savagely.  ^'  I  Ve  gone  too  fur 
not  to." 

"  First,"  said  the  lady,  "  go  to  bed. 
At  four  o'clock  I  '11  come  up  and  get 
the  baby.  I  '11  take  the  five  o'clock  ex- 
press with  him,  and  be  in  Larkspur  be- 
fore noon." 

io8 


THE     COURT     OF     LOVE 

Suspicion  brooded  upon  Hannah. 
Her  glance  darkened. 

"Where  am  I  goin'  to  be?"  she 
asked. 

"  Here !  "  cried  Julia,  with  a  delight- 
ful air  of  solution.  '*  For  an  hour  or 
two  more.  You  were  seen  coming  here 
with  a  child.  You  must  go  away  by- 
daylight,  alone.  Bless  you  !  "  she  burst 
out  in  gay  conviction,  "  did  n't  I  read 
detective  stories  to  great-uncle  for  nine 
good  years  ?  I  fancy  I  know  how  it 's 
done.  You  '11  take  the  twelve  o'clock 
train  for  Larkspur.  You  '11  find  the 
baby  and  me  there,  —  in  the  gloaming, 
—  sitting  on  the  doorstep,  playing 
cat's-cradle  and  drinking  milk." 

Jakes  had  appeared  again,  to  ascend 
the  stairs  with  a  mien  of  aloofness,  as 
if  he  could  not  summon,  but  she  who 
would  might  follow. 
109 


THE     COURT     OF     LOVE 


"  Run  along/'  cried  Julia.    "  He  '11 
bark  at  you.    He  won't  bite." 

Hannah  rose  unwillingly,  and  took 
up  the  child.    With  the  baby  face  nod- 
ding over  her  shoulder,  she  followed,  her 
steps  dragging  as  if  she  cursed  the  way. 
Mrs.  Maxwell  was  coming  in  at  the  li- 
brary door,  and  Julia  pounced  upon  her. 
"  Kate,"  she  cried.    ''  Kate  !  " 
"  For  mercy's  sake,  what  is  it  ?" 
"  Think  of  the  most  amazing  thing 
that  ever  happened.    That 's  it !  " 
"  You  have  n't  heard  from  Peter  ?  " 
"Peter?     Peter     me    no     Peters." 
Julia's    eyes   were    lustrous.     Her    air 
breathed    haste    and     glad     discovery. 
"  Kate,  wilt   rise   with  me  at  four  i' 
the  morning,  and  take  horse  for  you 
don't  know  where?" 

Mrs.  Maxwell   answered   patiently. 
She  was  bewildered. 


no 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

'^Anything  you  say,  Julia.  But  we 're 
having  an  awfully  nice  time  here." 

''  Good  wench,  before  thou  'rt  twelve 
hours  older,  we  shall  be  living  in  a  his- 
torical novel, — plunder,  flight,  strata- 
gem, and  spoils.  There  are  thieves  in 
the  garden,  and  police  under  the  porte- 
cochere."  Then  she  dropped  to  earth. 
"  All  you  have  to  do,  Kate,  is  to  have 
on  your  riding  habit  at  four,  hold  your 
tongue,  and  come  along." 

Here  was  Jakes  again,  in  his  char- 
acter of  portent-bringer. 

"  There 's  a  kind  of  a  pious  devil 
outside.    He  wants  to  see  ye." 

"  Show  him  in,"  said  Julia  promptly. 

"Now,  you   hold  on,"   said  Jakes. 

"  It 's  my  opinion  he  's  one  o'   them 

that's  be'n  flashin'  lanterns  round  the 

gardin.    If  he  is,  he's  a  jailbird.   That's 

all." 

Ill 


THE    COURT     OF    LOVE 

"Nonsense,  Jakes.  You  're  nervous. 
Show  him  in.'' 

"I  Ve  left  my  papers  all  over  the 
table/'  Kate  explained.  "  I  '11  pick 
them  up.  Is  n't  the  dancing  ever  going 
to  begin?" 

"  Presently,  dear."  But  Julia  had 
fallen  to  reflecting,  and  Kate  took 
herself  avi^ay. 

When  Jakes  entered  he  seemed  to 
be  propelling  a  man  before  him,  a 
middle-aged  man  with  smooth  face 
and  ingratiating  pose.  When  the  new- 
comer lifted  his  eyes  and  let  them  rest 
on  Julia  for  an  instant,  he  was  plainly 
disconcerted.  Then  he  raised  his  hand, 
rumpled  his  smooth  hair,  and  advanced 
rapidly. 

"Lady,"  said  he,  "they  tell  me 
this  is  the  place  where  you  ask  and 
git." 

112 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

Julia  was  thinking  out  the  details 
of  her  coming  flight. 

**What  can  I  do  for  you?"  she  in- 
quired absently.  Then  she  glanced  at 
him.  "  Bless  me  !  "  said  she,  instantly 
awake,  "  is  your  name  Stirling  ? '' 

He  looked  her  merrily  in  the  eye. 

"No,  lady,''  said  he.    ''No." 

"  Cousin  named  Stirling  ?  " 

"No,  lady." 

"Or  brother?"  Her  attention  fled 
again.    She  was  thinking. 

"No,  lady."  Then  he  added,  with 
bright  assurance,  "  I  'm  an  orphan." 

"  Highwayman's  eyes  !  "  said  Julia. 
"Well,"  —  she  roused  herself,  — 
"  what  do  you  want  ?  " 

"  Lady,"  —  he  spoke  with  a  gay  con- 
viction, —  "I  've  got  one  ambition. 
I  want  to  be  a  butler.  Some  things  I 
understand.  Some  I  don't.  If  this 
113 


THE     COURT     OF     LOVE 

gentleman/'  —  he  made  Jakes  a  bow 
which  was  received  with  deep  disgust, 
—  "  if  this  gentleman  would  give  me  a 
few  lessons  "  — 

It  was  a  legitimate  ambition. 

"  Jakes/'  said  Julia,  "  find  this  man 
some  proper  clothes.  Let  him  help 
you  to-night  at  the  tables." 

Jakes  had,  for  an  instant,  no  words. 
He  had  fought  the  enemy  vainly  from 
the  borders,  and  now  it  was  invading 
his  own  domain. 

'*  By  gravy  !  "  he  said  weakly. 

"  Carry  a  tray  to  the  lady  upstairs," 
Julia  was  bidding  him.  '*  Be  sure 
there  's  some  milk  on  it,  warm  milk, 
Jakes,  you  know." 

A  little  hum  and  murmur  arose  like 

the  noise  of  bees  and  leaves  together. 

There  was  the  rustle  of  silk,  and  now 

and  then   a    laugh.     Down   the  stairs 

114 


THE     COURT    OF    LOVE 

came  pouring  a  flood  of  revelers, 
ladies  in  shimmering  silks,  men  in 
armor,  and  courtiers  in  velvet  with 
swords  and  capes.  At  the  same  time 
there  was  a  stir  under  the  pillars 
where  the  musicians  were  taking  their 
place.  The  hall  was  an  ante-cham- 
ber to  a  ball-room.  Julia  waited  until 
the  throng  had  all  descended.  She 
tapped  with  her  fan,  and  the  mur- 
mur ceased. 

"  Ladies  and  gentlemen,"  said  she, 
*' to-night  the  dancing  ends  at  twelve. 
At  four  to-morrow  morning  Mrs.  Max- 
well will  elope — with  me.  Mrs.  Max- 
well was  married  at  high  noon,  with 
six  bridesmaids  and  a  breakfast.  She 
needs  romance,  adventure.  We  shall 
ride  for  miles  and  miles.  If  anybody- 
asks  where  we  are,  you  don't  know. 
Meantime  keep  the  castle,  be  as  merry 
115 


THE    COURT     OF    LOVE 

as  you  like,  and  remember  Jakes  is  my 
right-hand  man." 

Then  the  music  began,  the  sweet- 
est of  minuets,  and  the  beautiful  satin 
puppets  formed  for  it,  —  all  the  guests 
but  two,  and  they  came  down  the 
stairs  arm  in  arm,  absorbed  in  talk. 
It  was  the  Reverend  George  A.  Clif- 
ford and  Eleazar  Bumstead,  the  clown. 
Yet  the  difference  was  not  appreci- 
able, comparing  them  with  their  for- 
mer aspect,  for  now  the  clown  was 
a  clergyman  of  melancholy  mien,  and 
the  happy  Clifford  had  become  a  clown. 
Eleazar  carried  a  grave-looking  book 
under  one  arm,  and  to  the  other  Clif- 
ford clung,  putting  questions  to  him 
in  eager  haste  and  showing  himself 
more  fascinated  with  every  answer. 
Bumstead  was  treating  him  with  a 
gentle  candor  and  compliance,  telling 
ii6 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

exactly  what  was  asked  of  him  and 
no  more,  and  no  whit  understanding 
why  any  reverend  gentleman  should 
wish  to  know  the  inner  workings  of  a 
show.  They  saw  the  lady  standing 
there,  lovely  in  her  white  and  gold, 
and  walked  past  her  at  a  distance,  im- 
pressed, as  all  these  children  of  mirth 
and  sorrow  were,  by  her  aloofness. 
She  signaled  graciously,  and  it  was  the 
real  clown,  not  the  fictitious  one,  who 
approached  with  deference.  Clifford 
was  before  him,  and  to  him  the  lady 
spoke,  tendering  him  a  paper  she  had 
taken  from  her  sleeve. 

"  Mr.  Clifford,  one  of  my  guests  begs 
you  to  give  an  impartial  opinion  on 
these  poems." 

"A  poet  among  you  ? "  Clifford  was 
repeating.  "  Not  a  poet !  Really !  really ! 
I  am  truly  gratified,  I  assure  you.  I  am 
117 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

gaining  a  great  deal  of  most  delightful 
information.  Mr.  Bumstead  here  is  tell- 
ing me  the  inner  workings  of  the  — 
ah  —  the  show." 

But  Bumstead's  hand  was  on  his  arm. 
He  knew  the  audience  was  over,  and 
Clifford  was  drawn  away.  They  betook 
themselves  to  a  corner,  and  there  the 
clown  seated  himself  with  his  great 
book,  and  the  Reverend  George  A.  Clif- 
ford stood  gaping  at  joys  he  was  un- 
trained to  share.  A  pretty  page  was 
beseeching  Julia  to  dance,  and  in  the 
act  of  starting,  her  foot  out,  her  hand 
uplifted,  holding  her  partner's,  the  lady 
stopped  and  waved  the  child  away. 
Here  was  Jakes  again,  her  guardian 
and  her  cross.  He  staggered  under  a 
long  basket  covered  with  white  cloth. 
Julia  thought  she  knew  his  possibilities, 
but  now  imagination  failed  her. 
ii8 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

"Jakes/'  said  she,  "what  have  you 
there?'' 

He  answered  grimly. 

"  The  silver — miss." 

"What  are  you  doing  with  it  ?" 

At  that  moment  he  was  pushing  it 
under  the  carved  oaken  bench  by  the 
door. 

"  I  'm  gittin'  it  out  o'  the  dinin'- 
room,"  said  he.  "  You 've  let  that  jail- 
bird loose  in  there,  an'  I  would  n't  trust 
the  tine  of  a  fork  within  gunshot  of 
him." 

At  that  moment  the  jailbird  himself 
appeared,  with  a  tray  of  food,  and,  deftly 
circling  round  the  dancers,  was  about 
to  ascend  the  stairs.  Jakes  fixed  him 
with  an  eye  incredulous  of  what  it  saw. 

"  There 's  a  back-staircase  to  this 
house,"  he  announced.  "  Where  should 
you  say  you  was  goin'  to,  anyways  ? " 
119 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

Julia,  meantime,  was  lifting  the  nap- 
kin on  the  tray,  and  appraising  what  she 
saw. 

"  Milk,''  said  she.    "  That 's  nice." 

But  Jakes  was  at  the  stairs. 

"Where  be  you  goin',  anyways?"  he 
inquired  belligerently. 

The  man  appealed  to  Julia  with  a 
glance. 

"  I  was  carrying  a  tray  to  the  lady 
and  the  little  boy,''  said  he. 

"  You  give  it  here,"  commanded 
Jakes.  "  Now  step  yourself  into  the 
kitchen.  There  ain't  no  lady.  There 
ain't  no  little  boy." 

The  jailbird  departed  obsequiously, 
and  Julia,  watching  his  unpleasant 
back,  said  gently : 

"You  haven't  forgotten  the  wo- 
man and  the  little  boy,  Jakes,  have 
you?" 

120 


THE    COURT    OF    LOVE 

"  I  wasn't  to  tell,  was  I  ?"  said  Jakes, 
the  martyr.  "  Well,  I  ain't  told.  That's 
all  there  is  to  it." 

Julia  smiled  upon  him. 

"  Good  boy,  Jakes,' '  said  she.  **  Here, 
give  me  the  tray.  You  '11  only  terrify 
her."  She  pulled  up  her  long  gown, 
tucked  it  under  her  arm,  and  went  up 
the  stairs,  bearing  the  tray  before  her. 

Meantime,  Jakes  knelt  to  his  task  of 
pushing  the  basket  the  more  securely 
under  the  bench.  A  waltz  began.  The 
clown  still  read  in  the  corner,  but  the 
Reverend  George  A.  Clifford,  unable 
to  still  his  feet,  painstakingly  began 
practising  steps  by  himself  until  a 
laughing  flower-girl  came  whirling  up 
and  set  upon  him  with  proflTers  of 
instruction.  He  hesitated.  It  seemed 
harmless  to  take  steps  by  himself.  The 
devil  was  in  it   if  he   really  danced; 

121 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

but,  "  one,  two>  three,"  he  was  off, 
guided  in  a  pleasing  rhythm,  and  he 
liked  it. 

The  hall  was  a  tumultuous  sea  of 
whirling  colors.  Among  the  circling 
rout  were  two  new  figures,  men  in  their 
traveling  clothes,  grave  onlookers, — 
Silverstream  and  Peter  Maxwell.  They 
viewed  the  scene  for  a  moment  in  some 
bewilderment.  Peter  was  the  first  to 
recover  himself.  He  confronted  Jakes, 
risen  from  his  hidden  hoard. 

"We  have  been  unable  to  find  the 
office,"  said  Peter.  "The  maid  was 
very  indefinite  " — 

Jakes  remedied  that  defect. 

"  Office  !  "  he  muttered  fractiously. 
"What  do  you  mean  by  office?" 

Peter  explained. 

"  The  superintendent's  office.  Will 
you  say  to  the  superintendent  that  we 

122 


THE    COURT    OF    LOVE 

ventured  to  come  direct  from  the  sta- 
tion because  a  hackman  told  us  there 
was  a  ball  to-night?  That  was  what 
we  wanted  particularly  to  observe/' 


4)*i'*"v.y^.,>1^  w**^'  ^^/^i^ 


VI 


■ji.^^-0'/ 


AKES  and  the  two  vis- 
itors confronted  one 
'I   another. 

"Was   it    a   hack- 
man  ? "  Jakes  inquired 
gloomily. 
"  Yes,"  said  Peter,  with  some  impa- 
tience.   "  We  asked  to  be  driven  to  the 
asylum,  and  he  said  there  was  a  ball 
there  to-night." 

Jakes  relapsed    into    contemplation 
of  the  wonders  of  Providence  in  afford- 
ing retribution  swiftly. 
"  By  gravy  !  "  said  he. 
Peter    addressed  him  in  an  under- 
tone. 

"  Are  these  all  patients  ? " 
124 


THE     COURT     OF     LOVE 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Jakes,  goaded 
beyond  endurance.  *'  I  don't  know 
what  they  be." 

Maxwell  looked  his  doubt  of  Jakes 
himself,  but  indulged  only  in  a  molli- 
fying : 

''  If  you  '11  kindly  take  my  card  to 
the  superintendent  ? " 

Jakes  accepted  the  card,  looked  at  it 
vaguely,  and  laid  it  on  a  table.  Things 
were  growing  too  complex.  Rethought 
of  the  silver,  wondered  whether  he  had 
done  well  in  the  bourne  he  had  sought 
for  it,  took  a  martial  station  in  front 
of  it,  and  wished  for  Julia.  Maxwell, 
absorbed  in  the  scene  of  light  and  color, 
had  forgotten  him.  Silverstream,  tired 
about  the  eyes,  recalled  himself  per- 
emptorily, being  one  who  had  learned 
that  it  never  befits  a  man  to  mope. 

"  If  you  want  to  observe  this  thing, 
125 


THE     COURT     OF     LOVE 

Pete,"  said  he,  "you  'd  better  join  the 
dance.    I  shall/' 

Maxwell  detained  him  by  a  touch. 
He  was  gazing  at  the  scene  in  honest 
wonder. 

"  Look  at  them.  Jack,''  said  he, 
"  look  at  them,  —  each  with  that  spark 
of  madness  in  his  eye." 

Silverstream  did  look,  rather  drearily. 

"  They  seem  very  much  like  other 
people,  to  me,"  he  observed. 

Maxwell  answered  warmly  : 

*'  That 's  where  you  're  not  a  special- 
ist. I  'm  not  one-half  so  keen  as  you 
are,  in  most  things.  Jack,  but  here  I 
score.    I  do  see  it." 

"  Well,"  said  Silverstream,  "  I  'm 
going  to  take  a  turn." 

The  pretty  page  accepted  him,  and 
they  whirled  away.  The  clown,  now 
embraced  by  his  insistent  charge,  the 
126 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

Reverend  George  A.  Clifford,  came 
gyrating  intermittently  past.  The 
flower-girl  had  expended  most  of  her 
good -nature  and  all  her  breath  on 
Clifford.  She  was  in  a  corner  now, 
being  fanned  by  Romeo,  and  Clifford, 
madly  ambitious,  had  besought  his  pro- 
fessional friend  to  give  him  one  turn 
more. 

"  Only  one  turn,  and  then,  by  George, 
Bumstead  !  I  tell  you  what,  I  bet  I  '11 
catch  it.'' 

He  had  not  caught  it  yet  to  any  ex- 
tent, for,  in  spite  of  Eleazar's  strong 
right  arm,  he  charged  into  Maxwell, 
and  stopped,  breathless  with  delight 
and  dizziness.  Peter  beamed  upon  the 
clown,  who  faced  him. 

"  Whom  have  I  the  pleasure  of  ad- 
dressing, sir  ?  "  he  asked  expansively. 
When  Peter  spoke  to  foreigners,  or  such 
127 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

as  were  touched  in  their  wits,  he  always 
used  Johnsonian  phrases. 

''  The  Vicar  of  Wakefield,  sir,"  an- 
swered the  clown,  from  deepest  gloom. 
He  was  inexpressibly  bored  by  the 
Reverend  George  A.  Clifford,  and 
sought  about  in  his  own  mind  for  a 
way  to  escape  to  his  corner,  his  Gibbon, 
and  his  pipe. 

"  You,  sir  ? ''  said  Maxwell  promptly 
to  the  clergyman.     "Might  I  ask"  — 

He  was  not  permitted  to  ask.  The 
Reverend  George  A.  Clifford  answered 
joyously : 

"  Grimaldi,  sir,  the  clown  !  " 

These  were  picturesque  delusions. 
None  so  rich  as  Peter  in  finding  them 
ready  to  his  hand. 

"  This  is  a  delightful  scene,"  said  he 
at  random,  looking  about  him,  and 
pouncing  on  material  for  talk.  "  Do 
J  28 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

you    have    these    gatherings    regular- 
ly?- 

"  To  tell  the  truth,"  said  the  Rev- 
erend George  A.  Clifford,  "I  seldom 
have  the  chance  to  join  any  gayeties 
beyond  the  League  or  the  Ladies'  Aid. 
I  am  rather  a  hard  student  in  my  secu- 
lar life.  This  is  a  sort  of  relaxation  I 
have  never  sought  before  ;  but  for  once 
in  a  way  I  find  it  beneficial  —  truly 
beneficial."  He  put  the  tips  of  his 
fingers  together  with  a  professional 
delicacy,  and  looked  at  Maxwell  as  if 
he  challenged  him  to  prove  that  even 
a  clergyman  should  not  be  a  man. 
Eleazar  Bumstead  was  meantime  sneak- 
ing away  somewhere  to  his  book  and 
the  pipe  of  his  desire.    Maxwell  turned. 

"  Did  you  choose  your  costume  your- 
self, or  was  it  selected  for  you?"   he 
asked,  beaming  through  his  glasses. 
129 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

Eleazar  Bumstead  had  had  enough 
of  their  lax,  amorphous  interference. 

*'  Forgit  it/'  he  said  abruptly,  and 
strode  away. 

But  Julia  Leigh  was  coming  down 
the  stairs.  The  Reverend  George  A. 
Clifford  lifted  admiring  eyes  to  her,  and 
Maxwell,  following  his  gaze,  came  also 
under  the  spell  of  her  rich  beauty.  At 
once  she  saw  him,  and  advanced  gra- 
ciously, reading  the  story  of  his  dress 
and  air. 

"  You  have  just  come,''  said  she. 
"  Have  you  been  offered  a  costume  ?  " 

Peter  took  the  hand  she  gave,  and 
bowed  above  it  with  a  gallantry  left 
over  from  his  German  student  days. 

"I  am  delighted  to  be  here,"  he 
said.  "  I  don't  think  I  '11  have  a  cos- 
tume, thank  you.  It's  a  little  late, 
and" —  She  looked  so  pathetically 
130 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

young  and  sweet  that  his  feehngs  over- 
came him,  and  he  plunged.  "  Are  you 
contented  here  ?"  he  asked. 

She  laughed,  a  chime  of  bells. 

''  Well,"  said  she,  '^if  I  'm  not,  it 's 
my  own  fault,  —  now,  is  n't  it?'' 

"  Your  own  fault ! ''  said  Peter. 
"  Poor  child  !    poor  child  ! '' 

But  Jakes  was  drawing  her  aside. 

<<  He  thinks  it's  the  asylum,"  said 
Jakes,  in  an  undertone  of  dread  dis- 
couragement. "  He  's  asked  for  the 
superintendent.    Here  's  his  card." 

Julia  looked  at  him  as  if  it  were  dif- 
ficult to  estimate  so  rich  a  fortune. 

"  Well !  "  said  she.  "  Well ! "  Then 
she  read  the  card.  Her  manner 
changed.  She  was  on  fire.  '*  Jakes," 
said  she,  ''  take  this  card  into  the  li- 
brary to  Mrs.  Maxwell.  Tell  her  she  's 
not  to  come  in  here  unless  I  send  her 
131 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

word."  Then  she  turned  to  Peter.  He 
was  ready  to  propose  his  cardinal  ques- 
tion. 

"  I  suppose/'  said  he,  "  the  doctors 
are  all  friends  of  yours?" 

Strangely  she  seemed  to  have 
changed.  There  was  a  wild  mirthful- 
ness  in  her  demeanor. 

"  I  '11  tell  you  a  secret,"  she  said. 
"  The  doctors  "  —  she  whispered  — 
"the  doctors  are  under  lock  and  key." 

Peter  did  start. 

**  Bless  me  !  "  he  breathed. 

"  Yes,  all  the  doctors  are  under  lock 
and  key.  All  the  attendants,  too. 
Though  some  of  them  we  killed.  All 
but  the  butler,"  she  continued,  as 
Jakes  appeared  again.  "  But  he  's  not 
a  real  butler." 

"  No,  I   ain't,"   volunteered   Jakes, 
with  unexpected   readiness.     "  I  'm    a 
132 


THE     COURT     OF     LOVE 

freeborn  American  citizen.  I  can't 
find  her/'  he  added,  to  Julia. 

"  Hunt,  then,"  she  ordered.  ''  Look 
in  the  garden.  She  's  probably  stepped 
out  of  the  library  window  into  the 
orchard." 

"  A  freeborn  American  citizen," 
Maxwell  was  repeating,  making  a  sur- 
reptitious note  in  the  little  book  he 
drew  forth  now  and  then.  "  Interest- 
ing delusion  !  My  dear  young  lady," 
—  he  put  up  the  book  and  added  this 
suggestively,  —  "I  suppose  the  doctors 
are  some  of  them  not  quite  —  sane  ? " 

"  Mad,"  said  Julia  calmly,  ''  mad, 
every  one  of  them.  That 's  nothing. 
You  're  mad  yourself." 

Then,  before  Peter  could  recover  his 
equilibrium  and  betake  himself  to  a 
maxim,  she  addressed  him  sweetly  : 

"  I  will  tell  you  how  it  happened. 
133 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

I  was  the  sweetest  girl  in  all  the  coun- 
try round.  I  had  blonde  hair  reaching 
to  my  feet,  and  my  eyes  were  like 
sloes.  My  cheek  it  was  the  fairest  that 
e'er  the  sun  shone  on.  Well,  what 
happened  ?  One  day  I  went  into  the 
tailor's  —  he  lived  next  door — to  ask 
about  the  prospect  of  new  sleeves. 
What  did  he  tell  me  ?  '  My  dear,'  said 
he,  *  I  speak  to  you  with  perfect  frank- 
ness because  your  grandparent  was  my 
almost  lifelong  friend.  My  dear,'  — 
But  there  it  ended.  Could  a  man  do 
more?" 

Peter  was  staring  fascinated,  and, 
well  pleased,  she  was  about  to  continue, 
when  Silverstream,  promenading  now 
with  the  pretty  page,  crossed  her  vision. 
Her  jaw  dropped  unbecomingly.  She 
looked  an  image  of  perfect  fright.  Her 
eyes  widened,  and  the  color  surged 
134 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

slowly  into  her  face.  She  turned  her 
back  on  Maxwell,  walked  rapidly  away 
from  him,  and  stood  looking  into  the 
window  shade  she  had  omitted  to  pull 
up.  And  Silverstream  had  joined  his 
friend.    Peter,  he  saw,  looked  nervous. 

'*Jack,''  said  Peter,  "there's  some- 
thing queer  here.'' 

"  It 's  a  party,"  said  Silverstream  in- 
differently.   "  That 's  all  it  is." 

"  It 's  devilish  queer.  Has  it  oc- 
curred to  you  the  patients  have  got 
loose  ?  " 

"The  better  for  the  book." 

"  Well,  keep  an  eye  on  'em,"  coun- 
seled Peter  briefly.  "  There  's  a  crowd 
of  'em.  If  they  get  unmanageable, 
we're  nowhere." 

They  turned  by  an  impulse  to  watch 
the  dancers,  who  seemed  never  to  tire 
in  their  pretty  whirling,  and  that  in- 
135 


THE     COURT    OF    LOVE 

stant  Kate  Maxwell  opened  the  door 
leading  into  the  courtyard,  and  came 
innocently  in.  The  eyes  of  her  own 
Peter  were  the  ones  she  met,  and  she 
stood  staring.  Peter  stared  also ;  but 
when  she  turned,  slipped  through  the 
door  again,  and  broke  the  spell,  he  gave 
one  crv : 

"  By     George  !     there  's     my    own 
wife! "  and  followed,  hot-foot,  after  her. 

The  dancers  scattered,  and  Julia,  at 
the  cry  and  closing  of  the  door,  turned 
to  find  herself  face  to  face  with  Silver- 
stream.  Then  the  dancers,  really  aston- 
ished at  nothing  in  this  wonderful 
house,  began  footing  it  again,  and  Sil- 
verstream  stood  looking  at  her.  Joy 
was  in  her  heart,  but  her  tumultuous 
soul  bade  it  not  to  show  itself.  So  she 
did  not  look  at  him.  He  spoke  first,  in 
an  exquisite  fervency. 
136 


THE     COURT    OF    LOVE 

"  I  Ve  found  you  !  " 

"  Did  you  come  to  find  me  ? ''  She 
could  not  deny  herself  that  much,  and 
said  it  softly,  though  still  not  looking 
at  him. 

"  No,  dear, no.  But  I  've  found  you.'* 
A  horrifying  thought  struck  him,  and 
he  added  to  himself,  "  But  —  in  this 
place  !  " 

She  had  forgotten  her  part.  Now 
he  had  recalled  her.  She  forced  her 
eyes  to  look  at  him. 

"  Do  I  know  you  ? "  she  asked 
vaguely. 

"  Know  me  !  Dear,"  he  said  im- 
ploringly, "  you  must  remember  me." 

Neither  of  them  thought  that,  in 
their  first  hazardous  acquaintanceship, 
she  had  not  been  called  ''  dear,"  nor,  in 
fact,  by  any  name.  The  hard  circum- 
stance of  the  place  made  it  natural  to 
137 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

him  that  she  should  be.  The  incredi- 
ble joy  of  seeing  him  again  made  it 
natural  to  her. 

Still  she  looked  at  him,  bending 
her  gaze  as  vacantly  as  she  might,  yet 
not  able  to  deny  herself  that  dear  sol- 
ace. Never  had  she  seen  him  so  near, 
face  to  face,  the  image  in  his  eyes  re- 
flecting her.    But  she  recalled  herself. 

"  You  are  the  King  of  Hearts,"  she 
said.  "  They  shuffled  the  pack,  and  he 
fell  out." 

There  was  such  honest  pain  upon  his 
face  that  she  almost  forbore.  Yet  she 
thought  of  Peter  Maxwell  and  what 
he  must  be  taught,  and  steeled  herself. 
What  Peter's  lesson  was  to  be,  she  did 
not  fully  know;  but  she  suspected  that 
he  must  have  some  radical  catastrophe 
of  the  emotions  to  show  him  what  he 
dealt  with  ignorantly 
138 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

"  He  went  away,"  she  said,  with  a 
sad  vagueness,  plucking  at  her  gown. 

''  You  knew  I  should  come  back," 
said  Silverstream.  /*  You  must  have 
known.  Listen  to  me.  I  was  called  to 
England.  A  child  had  been  stolen.  It 
was  a  child  left  in  my  charge." 

"  What  !  "cried  Julia.  She  straight- 
ened. "^Were  you  good  to  that  child  ?  " 
she  asked  rapidly. 

"  I  was  a  brute." 

"  Did  you  neglect  him  ? " 

"Yes,  I  did." 

"  You  deserved  to  lose  him."  Joy 
and  vengeance  strove  in  her  eyes.  She 
longed  to  tell  him  what  she  guessed, 
though  mischief  counseled  her,  "Not 
yet."  "  You  deserve  a  pretty  lesson, 
and  I  warrant  you'll  get  it.  You  de- 
serve to  be  scared  out  of  your  boots." 

"  Now  you  're  talking,"  Silverstream 
139 


THE     COURT    OF     LOVE 

burst  forth.  ''  Now  you  're  like  your- 
self." 

She  relapsed  into  poetic  idiocy. 

"  Six  selves  hanging  in  the  ward- 
robe/' she  murmured,  "  and  not  one 
to  fit!" 

"  Dearest !  "  — he  breathed  it  implor- 
ingly. "  I  Ve  got  to  call  you  so.  I 
used  to,  in  my  heart.  I  shall  take  you 
away  from  here.  You  wouldn't  be 
frightened,  dear  ?  You  'd  go  with  me  ?" 

"  In  a  coach  and  four!  "  —  she  said 
it  confidentially.  "  But  the  four  must 
not  be  horses.  Let  them  be  mice.  Do 
you  know  why  I  am  here  ? " 

"  I  don't  need  to  know."    His  face 

had  wakened  into  a  boyish  earnestness. 

Immediately  she  loved  him  as  she  loved 

the  little  boy  upstairs,  and,  in  addition 

to    other  fashions,   somewhat   in   the 

same  way.   But  she  spoke  portentously. 
140 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

''I  killed  — Cock  Robin." 

"You  are  coming  away  with  me," 
he  assured  her.  "  I  shall  take  care  of 
you.  We  '11  go  abroad,  and  you  '11  get 
well." 

Maxwell,  wild  of  eye  and  aspect, 
was  before  them. 

"  I  can't  find  her,"  he  said  to  Silver- 
stream.  "  I  saw  my  own  wife,  and  I 
can't  find  her." 

Julia  answered: 

"  I  know  your  wife.  She  lost  her 
senses  from  neglect  —  neglect." 

Peter  was  weeping.  At  least,  tears 
stood  in  his  honest  eyes,  and  his  glasses 
were  bedimmed. 

"  Neglect  !  "  he  cried.  "  For  God's 
sake,  who's  neglected  her?  " 

Clifford  was  approaching,  manu- 
script in  hand.    He  had  been  forgetting 

poesy  in  the  dance. 
141 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

"  This  poem/'  he  began,  with  sage 
emphasis,  "  written  under  the  pressure 
of  strong  emotion  "  — 

JuUa  took  the  paper  from  him 
ruthlessly.  She  presented  it  to  Peter 
Maxwell,  with  the  melancholy  com- 
mentary: 

"Her  last  sonnet!  " 

Peter  read  distractedly,  not  as  he  had 
read  like  follies  in  the  last  dull  years : 


"  '  Ah,  we  are  parted,  love.    What  shall  I 
say  ? 
We  may  no  longer  meet.  Ah,  well-a-day !  * 


Her  poetry  !    I  should  know  it  among 
a  hundred  ''  — 

"The  use  of  the  rhymed  couplet  in 
the  sonnet  is  peculiar,"  began  Clifford, 
matching  his  finger-tips. 

But  Peter  was  crying  wildly,  in  a 
new  suspicion : 

142 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

**  Parted  !  What  does  she  mean  by 
that?    Parted!" 

"  Come,  come,  Pete,"  Silverstream 
was  saying  in  his  ear,  "you're  off  your 
head." 

Maxwell  had  turned  on  Clifford. 

"You  had  this  poem  in  your  pos- 
session," he  choked.  "  Where  did  you 
get  it?  I  repeat,  where  did  you  get 
it?" 

Clifford  replied  with  dignity : 

"  These  poems  were  entrusted  to  me 
by  a  lady.  I  hope  we  need  not  bring 
any  lady's  name  into  this  discussion." 

"  He  had  it  in  his  hand,"  blustered 
Maxwell,  beyond  the  call  of  reason. 
"  He  's  got  another  one  there.  I  see  it. 
By  George,  sir !  if  you  were  ten  ma- 
niacs rolled  into  one,  I  'd  call  you  to 
account  for  this." 

"  Sir,"  said  Clifford,  choking,  "  out 
143 


THE     COURT    OF    LOVE 

of  consideration  for  my  cloth  " —    His 
eye  fell  upon  it,  and  he  ended  weakly. 

Bumstead  came  up,  put  an  arm 
through  his,  and  walked  him  off. 

"  Don't  make  a  scene,  Pete,"  Silver- 
stream  was  urging. 

''  He  may  go,"  said  Peter.  "  I  spare 
him  for  the  present.  But  we've  got  to 
find  her.  Jack,  this  thing  must  be 
looked  into." 

"  There  's  a  well  in  the  garden,"  re- 
marked Julia  dreamily.  "Look  into 
that." 

Peter  turned  to  Jakes,  just  then 
on  one  of  his  fractious  quests  about 
the  room. 

"  Give  me  a  lantern,"  he  commanded. 
But  as  Jakes  merely  cast  a  scornful 
eye  on  him,  he  concluded  piteously: 
"  Give  me  a  lantern,  for  the  love  of 
heaven  !  " 

144 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

"  Let  me  alone,"  remarked  Jakes 
brutally.  "  You  're  all  play-actin'  to- 
gether." 

"Jack,"  groaned  Maxwell,  "  Jack  ! " 

Meantime  Jakes  announced  to  Julia  : 

*'  Supper  's  served." 

He  said  it  as  if  he  offered  poison. 

She  remembered  the  hoarded  silver. 

"  We  can't  eat,"  she  remonstrated, 
in  an  undertone,  "  without  forks  and 
spoons." 

"  They  can  use  their  fingers,"  said 
Jakes.  "  It 's  sangwiches."  And  he 
peered  jealously  under  his  guardian 
bench  and  pushed  the  basket  a  fraction 
of  an  inch  within. 

"  Shall  we  go  out  to  supper  ? "  said 
Julia,  with  her  grand  air.  She  drew  the 
clown  from  his  corner  and  his  Gibbon, 
and  led  the  way.  The  two  men,  ig- 
nored, confronted  each  other. 
145 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

"  Jack/'  said  Peter,  in  a  wild  fervor, 
"  my  wife  is  here,  in  that  garden.  Out 
in  the  night,  in  that  garden  !  " 

Silverstream  was  not  thinking  of 
such  mild  incidents.  What  was  it  to 
him  that  one  man  had  lost  a  wife  ? 
He  had  found  a  wife  that  was  to  be. 
He  slapped  Peter  on  the  back,  and 
laughed  gayly  —  boisterously. 

"  Nonsense,  man,"  said  he.  "  Your 
wife 's  at  home,  where  you  left  her. 
You  've  lost  your  nerve." 

Maxwell  was  interrogating  the  very 
walls. 

"  She  may  be  under  this  roof  now," 
he  asseverated.  **  There  are  dozens  of 
entrances  we  don't  know.  Some  ma- 
niac may  have  gagged  her  " — 

But  here  was  Jakes.  He  had  left 
the  guests  busy  with  the  Spartan  fare  he 
had  provided,  and  had  himself  returned 
146 


THE     COURT     OF     LOVE 

to  the  only  sanity  he  found,  as  he  had 
diagnosed  it.  His  defiant  air  had  cooled 
to  humble  suppliance. 

"Gentlemen,"  said  he,  "if  you've 
got  any  feelin'  for  what 's  right,  you  '11 
hang  round  this  house  till  mornin'! 
There  's  a  jailbird  in  the  dinin'-room, 
there 's  dark-lanterns  outside,  an'  the 
silver "  —  he  recollected  himself — 
"the  silver  's  where  I  put  it." 

Both  men  turned  upon  him.  They 
had  him  alone,  and  they  knew  what  to 
do  with  him. 

"  Where  is  the  resident  physician  ?" 
cried  Maxwell. 

"  Where  are  the  house  officers  ? "  put 
in  Silverstream. 

"  Where  are  the  nurses  ?" 

Loyalty  and  native  candor  strove 
together  in  the  butler's  breast.  He  an- 
swered the  three  questions  together,  in 
H7 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

a  wholesale  phrase  born  out  of  his  dis- 
traction. 

"  I  dunno  nothin'  about  it.  Find  out 
by  your  learnin'.'* 

Maxwell  turned  to  his  friend. 

"  Come,  Jack,"  he  said.  ''  I  shall 
summon  the  police." 

Jakes  melted  to  nothing  appreciable 
to  the  naked  eye. 

"Oh,  you  can't  do  that," — he  al- 
most wept.  "  Her  name  's  got  to  be  kep' 
out  o'  the  papers." 

"  Whose  name  ? "  roared  Silver- 
stream.  "  Speak  up.  Are  you  an  at- 
tendant here,  or  what  are  you?" 

Jakes  could  not  be  bullied. 

"  I  'm  a  freeborn  American  citizen," 
he  snarled. 

Silverstream  forgot  that  he  had 
found  his  love.  Pure  exasperation 
moved  him. 

148 


THE     COURT    OF    LOVE 


''Tell  all  you  know/'  he  cried,  "or 
I  '11  shake  the  life  out  of  you/' 

Jakes  squared  up  to  him. 

"Ye  will,  will  ye?"  he  inquired. 

Julia  was  there,  but  neither  saw  her. 
She  had  come  softly  back,  like  a  cat 
upon  a  tempting  scent. 

''There's  nothing  for  it.  Jack," 
said  Maxwell.  "  We  've  got  to  search 
the  house." 

"  Search  the  house  !  "  cried  its  mis- 
tress, in  a  trumpet  tone.  "  Search  my 
house!  Gentlemen,  good-night.  Jakes, 
the  door." 

They  could  not  be  too  hasty  in 
'  their  going.  They  knew  they  were 
misjudged,  and  yet  vague  shame  pos- 
sessed them.  Jakes,  tremulously  un- 
doing the  door,  was  beseeching 
them  : 

"Gentlemen,  if  you  've  got  any 
149 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

bowels  in  ye,  you  '11  hang  round  here 
till  daylight." 

His  foot  on  the  sill,  Silverstream 
turned  to  her.  He  braved  the  light- 
ning of  her  eye. 

"Let  me  beg  you,"  he  said,  "to  go 
to  your  room  —  to  get  some  sleep"  — 

Peter  was  reminding  him,  in  a  smo- 
thered tone  : 

"  Don't  rouse  her.  Jack !  Don't  rouse 
her  !  " 

"The  gardin,"  Jakes  was  saying. 
"  Keep  that  in  mind.    The  gardin." 

"Good-night  !  "  said  Julia. 


^^'^;^/^^i::if^^^'^\.^„Q' 


VII 


T  one  o'clock  the  next 
morning  the  great 
hall  was  still.  This 
was  the  time  for 
Jakes  to  wander  about 
and  see  that  all  was 
safe,  and  in  the  rare 
silence  of  the  place  recover  his  lost 
calm.  In  this  perpetual  pageant  it  was 
always  lost.  Sometimes  he  caught  a 
glimpse  of  it  when  the  whole  party- 
went  singing  out  to  frolic  in  the  April 
weather,  or  when  they  were  asleep  and 
he  caught  a  fugitive  nap  himself. 
Jakes  slept  little  at  this  time.  He  used 
to  look  at  his  old  watch  with  his  sleep- 
151 


THE     COURT     OF     LOVE 

sick  eyes,  and  wonder  how  long  he 
could  bear  the  strain.  Then  he  winked 
them  open  valiantly.  He  was  Julia's 
self-appointed  guardian.  So  long  as  it 
suited  her  to  play  the  fool,  he  must 
stand  by  and  watch,  lest  something  do 
her  a  harm.  This  morning  he  had  not 
even  the  solace  of  being  alone.  The 
jailbird  was  with  him,  for  the  reason 
that  Jakes  dared  not  trust  him  any- 
where else.  On  their  way  to  the  hall, 
Jakes  had  collected  various  articles  he 
considered  he  might  need,  and  now  he 
arranged  them  on  the  great  oak  table  : 
a  coil  of  rope,  a  bottle,  a  large  pepper- 
box, a  bunch  of  keys,  a  pair  of  hand- 
cuffs. 

The  jailbird  watched  him  with  an 

absorption   and   delight    calculated   to 

flatter  one   not  overpowered  by  sleep 

and  worry.   But  Jakes  had  scanty  notice 

152 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

for  him,   so    long  as   he  kept  silence 
and  went  where  he  was  bidden. 

^*  You  set  there/'  commanded  Jakes. 

He  pointed  to  the  bench. 

The  jailbird  was  instant  in  his  obedi- 
ence. 

"  Maybe  I  could  assist  you,  sir,"  he 
volunteered. 

'*  Mebbe  ye  could,"  Jakes  responded, 
counting  over  his  assortment  of  articles 
on  the  table,  "  by  settin'  where  ye  be. 
What's  your  name?"  he  added  tartly. 

"  Call  me  Stephen,"  said  the  jail- 
bird, almost  affectionately.  "  Stephen ! " 
He  cocked  his  head  in  the  direction  of 
the  stairs.  "Didn't  I  hear  a  child's 
voice  up  there?''  he  inquired  solicit- 
ously. 

Jake  stopped  his  pottering  toils,  and 
regarded  him  with  an  ironical  admira- 
tion. 

153 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 


"  You  Ve  got  a  bee  in  your  beaver, 
ain't  ye  ?  "  he  inquired.  "  A  child  here, 
an'  a  child  there  !  A  phantom  child, 
that's  what  you're  ha'nted  by  —  a 
phantom  child." 

Stephen  put  his  head  on  one  side, 
and  spoke  sententiously  and  with  feel- 
ing : 

"  It 's  a  lonely  house  that  has  n't  a 
child  in  it." 

"  You  need  n't  concern  yourself. 
The  house  ain't  goin'  to  be  no  desert 
so  long  as  the  present  population  's 
here."  A  look  of  exultation  marked 
his  dry  old  face.  He  raised  the  bunch 
of  keys  and  shook  them  in  high  tri- 
umph. ''Anyhow,"  he  cried,  "they  're 
locked  into  their  rooms  all  right." 

Stephen  regarded  him  with  a  ful- 
some admiration. 

''Now,"    said    he,   as   if  imploring 
154 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

Jakes  to  spare  his  nerves  so  rich  a  won- 
der, "  you  have  n't  been  and  locked 
the  ladies  and  gents  into  their  bed- 
rooms ? " 

"  Ain't  I  ?  "  said  Jakes.  ''  Wh^nyou 
was  locked  into  the  pantry!  Every 
man  Jack  of  'em.  Every  woman  Jill. 
I  took  the  keys  out  o'  their  doors  afore 
dark.  As  soon  as  all  was  quiet,  I  locked 
'em  in.  When  I  git  things  settled 
here,  you  're  goin'  to  your  bed,  an' 
you  '11  be  locked  in  yourself,  that 's 
what  you  '11  be." 

"  Oh,"  lamented  Stephen,  "  you  've 
no  confidence  in  folks  !  I  'm  sorry,  sir, 
sorry,  sorry  !  " 

"  Are  ye  ?    So  'm  I." 

Stephen,  kicking  his  heels  under 
the  bench,  met  an  obstacle  there.  It 
clinked  betrayingly. 

''Here!  here!"  called  Jakes  dis- 
155 


THE     COURT    OF    LOVE 

tractedly,  ^'  what  are  you  doin'  there  ? 
God  sake  !  you  goin'  to  kick  the  house 
to  pieces  ? " 

•  Stephen  had  put  a  hand  casually 
down  to  investigate,  but  Jakes  ad- 
vanced upon  him  so  emphatically  that 
he  rose. 

"  Beg  pardon,  sir,''  said  he. 

"You  better.  Now,''  said  Jakes, 
regarding  his  little  treasures  outspread 
upon  the  table,  ''  if  anybody 's  goin'  to 
break  an'  enter  to-night,  let  'em  come 
on.  There  's  kian  pepper  to  throw  in 
their  eyes,  there  's  household  ammonia 
ditto,  there  's  a  rope  to  tie  their  legs, 
an'  handcuffs  as  indicated." 

"Handcuffs  !  "  cried  Stephen,  in  de- 
lighted interest.  "  Now,  if  you  '11  be- 
lieve it,  I  scarcely  ever  see  a  pair,  let 
alone  touching  'em." 

"  It  ain't  too  late,"  remarked  Jakes, 
156 


THE     COURT    OF    LOVE 

not  unmindful  of  his  own  importance 
in  the  possession  of  those  naughty  guar- 
dians. 

Stephen  was  regarding  him  with  the 
same  admiring  interest  that  Jakes  had 
seemed  from  the  first  to  awaken  in 
him. 

"  Now/'  he  said,  ''  where  could  a 
gentleman  like  you  fall  foul  of  a  pair 
of  handcuffs  ? " 

Jakes  tripped  happily  into  reminis- 
cence. 

"  A  good  many  years  ago/'  said  he, 
"  I  was  porter  in  a  bank,  an'  I  done 
suthin'  that  got  me  in  with  the  police. 
I  had  a  friend  that  was  a  sheriff,  an' 
he  let  me  have  these  bracelets  to  kinder 
remember  suthin'  by." 

Stephen    was    marvelously    excited. 
His    small     eyes     glittered.    He     also 
seemed  to  remember  something. 
157 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

"  You  wa'  n't  the  porter  in  the  Atlas 
Bank  ?''  he  cried. 

Jakes  thought  he  hid  his  pride,  but 
it  oozed  through. 

"  Wa'  n't  I,  though  ? "  he  remarked. 
"  I  ruther  think  I  was." 

"  You  wa'  n't  the  rnan  that  was  tied 
and  gagged,  and  managed  to  work 
himself  loose,  and  got  out  through 
the  sky-light?" 

"  Yes,  I  was." 

"  And  down  to  the  next  roof"  — 

"The  Insurance  Block  "  — 

"And  give  the  alarm  "  — 

"For  all  I  was  wuth  !  " 

Stephen  sprang  up  and  seized  his 
guardian's  hand.  He  shook  it  warmly 
and  continuously. 

"You  old  'ero  !  "  he  cried  raptly. 
"  Why,  I  used  to  say  to  myself,  *  If  I 
could  meet  the  man  that  done  that 
158 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

deed  ! '  My  little  girl,  she  used  to  say 
to  me,  *  Tell  me  the  story  of  the  man 
that  done  the  deed.'  " 

Jakes  flushed  all  over  his  wrinkled 
face. 

"  Did  she,  now  ? '"  he  asked.  "  Well, 
I  certainly  am  obleeged  to  her.  Did 
she  really  ? " 

"  Yes,  she  did.  What  become  of 
them  bank  thieves?" 

"  Sentenced,  all  but  one.  He  got 
away."  Jakes  shook  his  head.  "  Con- 
sarn  him ! " 

"  Did  he,  now  ?  And  them  handcuffs 
were  a  kind  o'  momentum  o'  that 
job?" 

Jakes  swelled  with  self-importance. 

''That  an   others." 

"  Now,"  said  Stephen  admiringly, 
"  I  '11  warrant  you  know  how  they 
work." 

159 


THE    COURT     OF    LOVE 

Jakes  knew  perfectly.  From  his  air, 
it  might  have  been  concluded  that  he 
knew  everything  on  all  subjects. 

"  Easy  as  pi/'  said  he,  flourishing  the 
handcuffs  in  happy  illustration.  "  You 
slip  one  hand  in  here.  You  slip  t'  other 
in  there.    That 's  all  there  is  to  it." 

Stephen  bent  over  the  thin,  manacled 
old  wrists. 

"  And  snap  'em  ?  "  he  inquired  inno- 
cently, with  a  movement.    "So?" 

"  By  gravy  !  "  said  Jakes,  regarding 
his  fetters  pleasantly,  "  you  Ve  done 
it,  ain't  ye  ?  " 

"  So  I  have,"  said  Stephen,  with  a 
like  urbanity. 

"You  feel  in  my  pocket.  Mebbe 
the  key  's  there." 

"  Maybe  it  is." 

Stephen  went  through  the  pockets 
methodically,  taking  sundry  articles 
1 60 


THE     COURT     OF     LOVE 

from  them,  and  transferring  them,  with 
beautiful  adroitness,  to  his  own  per- 
son :  a  watch,  a  purse,  even  a  hand- 
kerchief. He  spoke  musingly  :  "  My 
little  girl  used  to  say  to  me,  '  Where  's 
the  'ero  that  done  the  deed  ?  "' 

"  Found  it  ?''  Jakes  was  twittering. 
"  Found  it  ? " 

"  No,''  said  the  searcher  soothingly. 
"  Don't  you  be  in  a  hurry,  Mr.  Jakes. 
The  more  haste  the  less  speed."  Mean- 
time he  deftly  took  the  bunch  of  keys 
from  the  table  and  tucked  them  into 
his  own  pocket.  "  Don't  you  be  in 
haste,  Mr.  Jakes.  '  Where  's  the  'ero,' 
that 's  what  she  used  to  say.  *  Show 
me  the  'ero  that  done  the  deed.'  " 

Jakes  was  fidgeting. 

"  Mebbe  that   key  's  in  my  t'other 
coat,  out  on  the  pantry  nail,"  he  qua- 
vered.   "  You  look." 
i6i 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

Stephen  was  gently  making  his  way 
to  the  great  oaken  door. 

"  I  don't  feel  it 's  there,  Mr.  Jakes/' 
he  said  suavely.  "  I  really  don't.  I  '11 
slip  down  to  the  police  station  and  see 
if  I  can't  borrow  a  key." 

"  Don't  ye  do  it,"  cried  Jakes. 
«  Don't  ye  do  it." 

"  When  I  come  back,  Mr.  Jakes," 
Stephen  went  on  smoothly,  "  I  '11  tap 
at  the  kitchen  door.  You  be  there  to 
meet  me.  I  couldn't  come  the  front 
way,  not  this  way.  I  'd  feel  like  I  was 
breaking  and  entering.  You  be  patient, 
Mr.  Jakes.  Don't  you  be  in  haste. 
But  you  be  in  the  kitchen." 

And  the  jailbird  slipped  pleasantly 
out  at  the  oaken  door.  It  closed  be- 
hind him  with  a  click. 

"You  hold  on,"  Jakes  called  after 
him  almost  tearfully,  first  through  the 
162 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

keyhole  and  then  at  the  window.    ''  You 
come  back  here  !  " 

There  were  steps  without,  and  the 
door  from  the  garden  opened  to  a  vio- 
lent hand.  Maxwell  appeared,  almost 
falling  in  his  haste.  Silverstream  fol- 
lowed, more  deliberately.  It  was  he 
who  spoke,  with  an  exasperated  stern- 
ness : 

"What's  all  this  rumpus?'' 

Jakes  held  out  his  manacled  hands. 

"  You  jest  look  at  here,"  he  im- 
plored.   '*  Only  you  look  at  here  !  " 

"  Handcuffed  ?' '  frowned  Silverstream. 

"You  go  through  my  pockets,  sir," 
Jakes  besought  him,  with  a  morsel  of 
hope.  "  There  's  a  key.  Mebbe  he  's 
missed  it." 

"  Key  ?   What  kind  of  a  key  ? " 

Jakes  had  not  ceased  from  holding 
out  imploring  hands. 
163 


THE    COURT    OF    LOVE 

"  To  take  'em  off,  gentlemen.  He  's 
put  'em  on,  an'  we  've  got  to  git  'em 
off.  You  search  my  pockets,  gentle- 
men." 

Maxwell  took  one  side  and  Silver- 
stream  the  other.  They  went  through 
his  pockets  with  a  systematic  haste,  Sil- 
verstream  as  if  it  were  a  mad  fantasy, 
which  was,  nevertheless,  all  in  the  day's 
work. 

"  Gentlemen,"  Jakes  was  quavering, 
"  don't  you  slip  away  from  here  this 
night.  There  '11  be  breakin'  an'  enterin' 
afore  mornin' ! " 

"  Tommyrot !  "  remarked  Silver- 
stream. 

"  How  'd  ye  git  in  this  door,  any- 
ways?" inquired  Jakes,  with  a  sudden 
thought. 

"We  climbed  the  iron  fence,"  re- 
turned Maxwell,  with  severity,  *'  be- 
164 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

cause  we  intend  to  remain  in  that  gar- 
den all  night  —  if  we  do  not  remain 
here.  A  lady  belonging  to  this  house- 
hold fled  into  that  garden  ''  — 

*^  Hark  !  "  Jakes  breathed  portent- 
ously.   "  Don't  ye  hear  a  step  ?  " 

"  Who  do  you  think  is  going  to 
break  into  a  lighted  room  ? ''  inquired 
Silverstream  irascibly. 

"  He  will,"  Jakes  avowed.  "  That 
jailbird  will.  He's  gone  now  to  tell 
his  mates.  He'll  tell'em  where  the 
silver's  put  an'  where  my  weepons  be. 
There  's  kian  pepper  to  throw  in  their 
eyes,"  he  recited  mechanically;  *' there's 
household  ammonia  ditto,  there  's  a 
rope  to  tie 'em  with,  an'" —  He  looked 
despairingly  down  at  his  wrists.  The 
handcuffs  were  unhappily  there. 

Silverstream,  having  finished  with 
the  last  pocket,  gave  the  suppliant's 
165 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

shoulder   an  impatient  farewell  push, 
and  turned  away. 

"  There  's  no  key  here/'  said  he. 

"  It 's  in  my  t'other  coat/'  said  Jakes 
hopefully. 

There  was  a  sound  without,  a  crash. 
It  was  pottery  in  supreme  overthrow. 

"  What  the  devil "  —  began  Peter. 

"  I  told  ye  so,"  said  Jakes.  "  It  's 
the  flowerpots  I  piled  up  to  ketch  'em. 
You  'd  ha'  kicked  'em  over  yourself  if 
you  had  n't  ha'  had  luck."  Another 
crash,  a  slighter  one.  Jakes  whispered 
now  portentously :  "  He  's  comin'  in 
from  the  gardin.  You  take  that  kian," 
he  recommended  Silverstream,  pushing 
it  toward  him  with  his  fettered  hands. 
"  You  take  the  bottle,"  he  whispered 
Maxwell.  *^  Now  you  slip  in  behind 
them  pa'ms  and  vines  there,  an'  when 
you  've  blinded  him,  you  lay  on." 
i66 


THE     COURT    OF    LOVE 

They  glanced  involuntarily  at  the 
door,  flanked,  on  each  side,  by  ample 
coverts. 

"  Tomfoolery  !  "  said  Silverstream. 
Instantly  he  was  on  the  way  to  the  door, 
and  Jakes,  as  promptly,  was  dragging 
him  backward  by  the  coat. 

"Where  you  goin',  sir?''  moaned 
Jakes. 

**  I  'm  going  to  open  that  door." 

"  Don't  ye  do  it,  sir,  don't  ye  do 
it." 

"  He 's  right,  Jack,"  said  Peter  firmly. 
Peter  was  trembling  all  over  from  what 
might  be  called  a  conflict  of  the  emo- 
tions. "  He  's  right.  You  hear  to  him. 
He  knows  more  about  this  place  than 
we  do.  It  may  be  a  patient  with  homi- 
cidal mania." 

"  Homicidal     grandmother  !  "    re- 
marked Silverstream. 
167 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

"  Jack,  my  wife  is  on  these  premises." 
Piteous  as  Jakes  appeared,  his  counten- 
ance overcast  by  dread  anticipation. 
Maxwell,  in  sheer  despair,  went  him 
ten  better.  "  You  owe  it  to  me  to  do 
nothing  rash." 

Jakes  stood  regarding  the  door  in  a 
catalepsy. 

**  I  hear  a  step,"  said  he. 

It  was  too  much  for  the  other  men. 
Evidently  it  seemed  to  them  both  that 
it  was  best  to  play  the  play  out  as  it  had 
begun,  and  each  of  them  stepped  behind 
the  sheltering  leafage.  Jakes  tottered 
to  the  bench  and  sat  there  rigidly. 
The  door  opened.  A  woman  entered. 
It  was  Katherine  Maxwell.  Jakes 
looked  at  her  and  gasped. 

''  Well !  "  said  he.    "  By  gravy  !  " 

Kate  advanced  slowly,  cautiously,  as 
if  she  feared  the  very  walls.  She  drew 
i68 


THE    COURT     OF     LOVE 

a  long  breath,  relaxed  a  little,  saw  Jakes, 
and  promptly  screamed. 

"Jakes  !  "  she  cried.  "What  are  you 
doing  here?'' 

Jakes  rose  and  stood,  concealing  his 
hands,  so  far  as  might  be,  behind  the 
table. 

"  I  'm  lockin'  up,  mum,"  said  he 
with  dignity.  "  There 's  folks  round 
the  house  to-night.  You  clip  it  up  to 
bed."  • 

But  she  had  no  idea  of  quitting  him 
so  soon.  There  were  things  for  her  to 
learn. 

"  Jakes,"  said  she,  with  indifferent 
ease,  "there  was  a  gentleman  here  to- 
night, one  that  was  not  expected." 

Jakes  eyed  her  stolidly. 

"  Was  there,  mum  ?" 

Mrs.  Maxwell  vouchsafed  him  a  fas- 
cinating smile. 

169 


THE    COURT     OF    LOVE 

**  Where  did  he  go  ? ''  she  asked. 

"  Can't  say,  mum." 

"Jakes,  you  surely  saw  him!  '' 

"Mebbe  I  did,  mum.  I  dunno  what 
I  see  in  this  bedlam.  I  dunno  's  any 
of  'em  are  flesh  an'  blood.  I  'm  black 
an'  blue,  mum,  where  I  've  pinched  me 
to  make  sure  I  'm  alive  myself." 

She  was  regarding  him  now  re- 
proachfully. She  spoke  in  eloquent 
earnest. 

"  You  must  remember  him.  A  dig- 
nified, handsome  gentleman  with  blue 
eyes  and  auburn  hair.  A  stranger  to  Miss 
Julia.    Jakes,  you  must  remember." 

*'A11  strangers  here,  more  or  less, 
mum,"  Jakes  conceded  miserably, 
conscious  only  of  his  fettered  hands. 
"  Shake  'em  up  in  a  peck  measure,  an' 
you  could  n't  tell  the  difference." 

"  I  could  tell  the  difference,"  she  re- 
170 


THE     COURT    OF    LOVE 

marked,  with  dignity.  "  He  was  no 
stranger  to  me.  Jakes,  where  is  Miss 
Julia?" 

He  leaped  at  the  diversion. 

"  Upstairs,  mum,"  he  cried  eagerly. 
"  You  hear  to  me,  mum,  an'  go  qui- 
etly to  your  room,"  A  sudden  thought 
assailed  him.  *'  By  gravy  !  "  he  mut- 
tered, "  you  can't  git  in."  His  gaze 
swept  the  table.  '*My  keys!  "  he  cried, 
in  a  shrill  staccato.  "  Where 's  my 
bunch  o'  keys  ?  " 

Mrs.  Maxwell  promptly  followed 
his  cry  with  a  successful  echo. 

"  O  Jakes  !  you  frighten  me." 

"  He 's  took  my  keys,  the  jailbird," 
Jakes  was  moaning.  **  He  's  took  my 
keys.  You  listen  to  me,  mum.  I've 
got  suthin'  to  tell  ye." 

"Tell  it,"  she  bade  him  miserably. 
"  I  can  bear  anything." 
171 


THE    COURT    OF    LOVE 

"Well,  it's  this,  mum.  You  can't 
git  into  your  room." 

"  Can't  get  into  my  room  ?  Why 
can't  I  get  into  my  room  ? " 

"  You  go  into  the  lib'ry,  mum,"  he 
entreated  her.  "  You  go  in  there  an' 
lay  down  a  spell.  I  '11  git  your  door 
open  the  minute  I  can." 

"  O  Jakes,  something  dreadful  is 
going  on.  There  is.    I  know  there  is." 

"  You  go  into  the  lib'ry,  mum,"  he 
implored  her.  "  That 's  all  you  can 
do.   You  go  into  the  lib'ry." 

She  trailed  distractedly  toward  the 
door. 

"I  don't  want  to  go  into  the  library," 
she  protested.  "Jakes,  if  Mr.  Maxwell 
calls  in  the  morning — oh,"  she  con- 
cluded, in  desperation,  "  I  can  never 
see  him."  And,  quelled  in  a  measure 
by  the  determination  of  that  advancing 
172 


THE    COURT    OF    LOVE 

figure,  she  did  retreat  into  the  library, 
and  Jakes  shut  the  door  upon  her. 

By  one  impulse,  with  one  stride. 
Maxwell  and  Silverstream  appeared 
from  their  shelter. 

"  That  was  my  wife,  Jack,"  Peter 
announced  distractedly.  "  My  wife ! 
What  was  she  doing  out  in  that  garden 
at  this  hour?'* 

Silverstream  passed  a  weary  hand 
across  his  brow. 

"  If  it  comes  to  that,"  said  he  dis- 
gustedly, "  what  are  we  doing  in  the 
house  here  at  the  same  hour  ? " 

"You  heard  her  asking  for  him  ?  " 

"  For  whom  ?  " 

"  That  damned  mountebank  in  the 
calico  pajamas.  Did  he  look  like  that. 
Jack  ?  Did  he  have  auburn  hair  and 
blue  eyes  ?  Was  he  dignified  ?  Was 
he  handsome?" 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

"  Muttonhead  !    She  meant  you/' 

"  No  !  "  cried  Maxwell,  in  extreme 
surprise.  Depression  overtook  him. 
"  No,  Jack,  no,"  he  brooded.  "  It 
does  n't  fit." 

Silverstream  regarded  him  with  a 
momentary  hilarity,  —  his  woe-begone 
countenance,  his  crumpled  state. 

"  No,  Pete,  no,"  he  owned,  ''  I  can't 
say  it  does." 

"  '  No  stranger  to  me  ! '"  Peter  was 
brooding.  "  That 's  what  she  said. 
Jack.    '  No  stranger  to  me  ! '  " 

Jakes  had  been  hovering  near. 

"  Gentlemen,"  he  besought,  in  the 
resulting  pause,  while  Peter  gloomed 
and  Silverstream  looked  with  a  hawk's 
glance  from  stairway  to  upper  corri- 
dor, as  if  to  conjure  up  an  impossible 
vision  of  his  lady.  "  Gentlemen,  you 
come  with  me  into  the  pantry  an'  see 
174 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

if  you  can't  find  that  key  in  my  t'other 
coat. 

"  '  I  can  never  see  him,'  "  Peter  was 
murmuring,  in  woeful  reminiscence. 
"  That 's  what  she  said.  Jack  !  my  own 
wife  said  it.    '  I  can  never  see  him.'  " 

"Gentlemen,"  Jakes  implored  them, 
"  you  come  this  way." 

Silverstream,  looking  at  him,  uttered 
the  one  word : 

"Damn!" 

But  they  followed  him. 


j/tB         ^W^         *i 


VIII 


^j-       HE  library  door  opened, 

^^m^i^^^  and     Mrs.     Maxwell 

•  /  ,    ,4^^^  came  stealing  in,  cat- 

^      I      ^J  like,  in   her  trepida- 

fe|%^      ^jj^-    tion  over  the   queer- 

*     "%^-^%^^         ness  of  the  house. 

T  ''  Jakes  ! ''  she  called, 

in  a  muffled  voice,  "  Jakes  ! '' 

Another   voice  answered    from  the 
stairs,  one  sweetly  resolute: 
"  That  you,  Kate  ? '' 
"  Julia  !  "   she  breathed   in  answer. 
"  O   Julia  !    Are   you  really  there  ?    I 
thought  everybody  was  dead  and  buried. 
Everybody  but  Jakes,  —  and  Jakes  is 
crazy.    Julia,  he  won't  let  me  go  up- 
176 


THE     COURT    OF    LOVE 

Stairs,  and   the   library   is    dark."    She 
ended  in  a  fit  of  sobbing. 

JuHa  had  reached  the  foot  of  the 
stairs.  She  looked  slim  and  tall  in  her 
riding  habit,  —  fresh,  too,  as  if  a  night's 
wakefulness  had  no  power  over  a  spirit 
such  as  hers.  Fire  was  in  her  eye,  the 
pretty  bloom  upon  her  cheeks.  She 
carried  her  riding  hat  and  crop,  and 
looked  about  her  as  if  she  only  awaited 
the  opening  of  the  great  door  and  the 
inrush  of  morning  air  to  give  a  hunts- 
man's call  and  hurry  forth.  She  glanced 
at  Kate,  set  a  lock  of  hair  right  on 
her  friend's  haggard  forehead  and  re- 
marked : 

*'  I  've  been  pounding  at  your  door." 
*' Julia,"  said  Kate,  in  a  mysterious 
undertone.     She  looked   about  her   as 
if  the  walls  had  ears.    "  There  's  some- 
thing queer  about  this   house.    What 
177 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

do  you  think?"  she  whispered.    ''Al] 
the  locks  are  caught/' 

"  Are  they  ?  "  said  Julia,  with  an  un- 
moved serenity.  '*  I  knew  mine  was.  I 
climbed  out  through  the  transom." 
She  rubbed  her  knees  ruefully,  yet  with 
an  untouched  good-nature.  "Where 
have  you  been  ?  " 

"In  the  garden." 

"  All  this  time  ?  Why,  it 's  all 
hours." 

"  I  was  afraid  of  Peter.  Where  did 
he  go?" 

"  I  don't  know." 

"What  did  he  say?" 

"I  don't  know.  Something  deliri- 
ous. Run  upstairs  now,  and  put  on 
your  riding  habit." 

Mrs.  Maxwell  looked  at  her  aghast. 

"My  riding  habit?  I'm  going  to 
bed." 

178 


THE     COURT    OF    LOVE 

Julia  looked  back  at  her  in  quiet 
glee. 

"You  can't  go  to  bed,"  she  an- 
nounced.   "Your  room  is  locked." 

But  Kate  had  her. 

"Then,"  she  cried,  in  an  equal  tri- 
umph, "I  can't  get  my  riding  habit." 

"Ah!"  Julia  reflected.  In  a  mo- 
ment she  announced  with  determina- 
tion :  "  You  've  simply  got  to  come  as 
you  are,  paint,  patches,  and  powder,  to 
Larkspur,  down  in  the  State  of  Maine." 

"  Julia  !  "  Her  friend  stared  at  her 
feebly  and  in  despair.  "  Julia  !  "  she 
ended  weakly,  "  there 's  nothing  like 
you  —  unless  it 's  a  tornado." 

But  Julia  was  not  listening,  save  to 
the  seething  of  her  own  mental  caul- 
dron. When  she  had  a  scheme  afoot, 
the  outer  world  was  lost  to  her.    She 

took  a  quick  resolve. 
179 


THE    COURT    OF    LOVE 

"  Kate/'  she  said,  "  there  's  a  baby 
upstairs,  and  we  've  got  to  steal  it." 
"  A  baby  !   How  did  it  come  there  ? " 
Juha   pointed,  in  solemn  triumph, 
up  the  stairs. 

"  It  was  carried.  Simple  as  you 
please.  But  it 's  got  to  be  brought 
down  mysteriously  veiled.  It 's  got  to 
be  conveyed  to  the  stables  by  the  back 
way.  It 's  got  to  be  held  before  me, 
strained  to  me  bosom,  while  I  ride  and 
me  pursuers  tumble  over  themselves 
in  the  far  distance." 

**  Then  what  do  you  want  me  for? " 
"  I  want  you,"  said  Julia  firmly,  "to 
cuddle  the  baby  while  I  saddle  the 
horses.  I  want  you  to  fall  behind  and 
be  captured  if  we  are  pursued,  and  let 
me  get  off  with  my  prey  —  the 
blessed !  " 

Kate  recovered  her  fainting  spirit, 
i8o 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

"Well,  I  wont,  that's  all,"  said 
she.    "Why,  Peter  'd  simply  kill  me.'' 

"  Yes,  you  will,  Kate,"  said  the 
lady,  with  unchanging  firmness.  "  You 
know  you  will." 

"Why  don't  you  have  a  carriage, 
like  a  Christian,  if  you  've  got  to  go  ? " 

Julia  looked  at  her  and  smiled, 
looked  away  from  her  and  smiled 
again.  Romance  and  adventure  had 
her  in  their  grip,  one  on  each  hand. 

"Oh!  oh!"  sobbed  her  victim,  in 
more  or  less  calculated  hysteria.  "  I 
see  now  what  your  great-uncle  must 
have  endured." 

"  Great-uncle  ?  He  had  the  time  of 
his  life." 

"  Besides,  if  there  's  a  baby  up  there 
—  and  I  doubt  it  — you  can't  get  him. 
He  's  locked  in." 

"  Confusion  !  "  Julia  breathed.  "  So 
i8i 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

he  is.  And  the  police  here  by  day- 
break !  I  feel  it.  I  know  it.  Kate, 
we  must  get  that  child  away." 

Kate  was  pacing  up  and  down  the 
room.  Small  regard  had  she  now  for 
her  rustling  train. 

"  Julia/'  she  adventured,  "  I  might 
as  well  tell  you  I  don't  mean  to  stay 
here  another  day.  Peter  will  go  home 
to  find  me.    I  must  be  there." 

**  Peter  won't  go  home,"  said  Julia 
sweetly.  "  He  '11  come  here  by  eight 
o'clock  at  the  very  latest." 

Hope  and  fear  flew  together  into  the 
wife's  eyes. 

"  Did  Peter  say  that  ? "   she  cried. 

"  No  !  no  !  But  he  '11  come.  The 
other  man  will  make  him." 

"  Who  is  the  other  man  ?" 

"  His  name,"  Julia  said  demurely, 
"  seems  to  be  Silverstream." 
182 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

"Jack  Silverstream  ?'* 

"  So  I  understand.  And  Jack  Silver- 
stream  will  come  to  find  me,  because, 
my  dear.  Jack  Silverstream  is  the  man  I '" 

"Not' yours?" 

There  was  no  answer  emphatic  or 
sweet  enough,  and  so  the  lady  closed 
her  lovely  lips,  let  an  illuminating  ray 
dart  from  each  eye,  and  answered : 

"  Mm  !  " 

"  The  one  from  abroad  ?  " 

«  Mm  !  " 

"  The  one  that  did  n't  speak  ?'' 

"The  one  that  hadn't  spoken." 

Mrs.  Maxwell  seemed  to  melt  into 
a  sea  of  anticipatory  bliss. 

"  O  Julia,"  she  murmured,  "  are  you 
happy  ? " 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Julia,  emit- 
ting a  general  radiance. 

"  You  don't  know  ?  " 
183 


THE    COURT    OF    LOVE 

"  I  don't  know  whether  I  'm  happy, 
Kate,  or  whether  I  'm  only  crazy.  And 
I  don't  care." 

Mrs.  Maxwell  had  a  thought. 

"  But  if  you  're  gone,"  she  suggested, 
"  he  won't  find  you." 

**Then,"  said  Julia  pleasantly,  "he'll 
make  the  mistake  of  his  life.  As  for 
you,  Kate,  if  you  don't  want  to  go  with 
me,  you  sha'  n't.  Stay  here  and  face 
your  Peter." 

Kate  considered. 

"  Peter  will  never  forgive  me,"  she 
lamented. 

"  Don't  ask  him.    Forgive  him." 

The  loyal  wife  was  at  once  in 
arms. 

"  What  for  ? "   she  demanded. 

'<  Nothing,  if  you  like.  Only,"  Julia 
smiled  at  her  enchantingly,  ''  I  've  al- 
ways found  that,  if  it 's  a  question  of 
184 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

forgiveness,  it 's  more  blessed  to  give 
than  to  receive.  Goose !  Don't  you 
know  your  Peter 's  half  distracted  ? 
About  you  ?  There  *s  your  ammuni- 
tion.   Use  it." 

"  Distracted  ! "  cried  the  wife.  "Dear 
Peter  !  " 

"  Not  dear  Peter.  Plain  Peter.  Let 
him  do  the  endearing.  What 's  that  ? " 
Her  eyes  were  on  the  garden  door. 

"  The  latch !  "  breathed  Kate.  *^The 
latch  is  lifting." 

Julia  gathered  her  habit  about  her, 
fled  softly  to  the  door,  and  as  softly 
bolted  it.  Then  she  returned  to  Kate, 
and,  hand  in  hand,  they  stood  with 
their  eyes  upon  the  latch. 

"  It 's  a  burglar,"  Julia  exulted. 

**  We  must  scream,"  said  Kate. 

"  No  !  "    Julia  withdrew  her  hand 
from  that  clinging  clasp.    It  looked  as 
185 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

if  she  needed  it  for  action.    ''  We  must 
trap  him." 

Kate  began  wringing  her  hands. 
She  looked  at  the  stairs,  at  the  walls 
and  ceiling. 

** Where  is  Jakes?"  she  moaned. 
"  Oh,  where  is  Jakes  ? " 

But  Julia  had  gone  from  door  to 
door  and  locked  them. 

"In  his  bed,"  she  answered,  in  a 
safe  undertone.  **  Where  he  ought  to 
be." 

''  Oh  !  "  moaned  Kate,  "  where  's 
Peter  ? " 

"  In  the  gutter,  I  should  hope,  where 
he  ought  to  be.  Healthy  change  for 
him."  She  had  slipped  the  keys  under 
the  rug.  ''  Now,"  she  ordered,  in  that 
mandatory  whisper,  "  stop  talking.  I  'm 
going  to  unbolt  the  door." 

"  Julia  !    he  '11  come  in." 
i86 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

"  Not  if  you  keep  chattering  like  a 
guinea  hen." 

"  You  've  locked  the  doors.  He  can't 
get  out." 

"  I  don't  mean  he  shall." 

"  He  '11  go  upstairs.  They  '11  be 
murdered  in  their  beds." 

"  They  're  locked  in.  You  said  so. 
Now,  wait  a  minute.  Where  can  we 
hide  ourselves  ? "  She  looked  from 
point  to  point,  finger  on  lip,  reflection 
in  her  eye.  **  Ah ! "  she  breathed. 
"  It 's  Heaven-sent !  Kate,  get  behind 
there." 

With  one  ruthless  hand  she  pulled 
her  toward  the  leafy  screen,  and  with 
the  other  poked  her  in.  She  pushed  the 
bolt  noiselessly  back,  and,  with  the 
same  motion,  tucked  herself  also  into 
hiding.  For  the  moment  there  was 
silence. 

187 


THE     COURT    OF    LOVE 

"  Don't  breathe,"  whispered  Julia. 

Kate  laid  a  hand  over  her  mouth, 
and  dropped  her  train. 

"  Don't  rustle  !  "  came  from  the 
other  hiding-place. 

Silence  again.  The  latch  lifted,  the 
door  swung  softly  open.  A  man  stepped 
in.  It  was  the  jailbird,  prettily  deco- 
rated with  a  mask.  He  stood  for  a  mo- 
ment, listening.  Then  he  ran  his  hand 
into  his  pocket,  to  make  sure  the  keys 
were  ready,  paused  to  listen,  and  went 
up  the  stairs.  When  the  pad  of  his 
footfall  had  ceased  above,  Julia  stepped 
out  from  her  shelter.  Her  eyes  were 
brilliant,  her  cheeks  scarlet.  She  was 
a  picture  of  high  determination.  Kate 
stumbled  from  her  hiding-place,  shak- 
ing in  a  palsy.  She  put  two  trembling 
hands  on  Julia's  shoulder,  and  leaned 
upon  her. 

i88 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

"  He  was  a  highwayman,"  whis- 
pered JuHa,  in  real  dehght. 

"  Who  was  ?  "  Kate  was  chattering. 

"Don't  talk.  He '11  be  back.  He'll 
have  to  go  the  way  he  came.  When 
his  back  is  turned,  we  '11  fall  on  him. 
Wait.  That  skirt  rustles.  Take  it 
off." 

The  skirt  was  rustling  because  the 
woman  in  it  shook  from  head  to  foot. 

"  I  can't,"  Kate  whispered,  her  teeth 
biting  upon  every  syllable.  "  M-my 
knees  are  weak." 

"  Take  it  off,  I  tell  you  !  "  Julia  fell 
upon  her.  She  fought  with  hooks,  and 
deftly  conquered  them,  stripped  off  the 
skirt,  rolled  it  ruthlessly,  and  bundled 
it  under  a  table.  Then  she  sprang  on 
a  chair,  and  unhooked  a  velvet  car- 
tain  from  its  rings.  "  Take  this,"  she 
ordered. 

189 


THE    COURT     OF    LOVE 

"To  put  on?"  inquired  Mrs.  Max- 
well weakly. 

<*  No  !  no !  Give  it  back  to  me. 
You'd  miss  fire.  Here's  a  rope.  Heaven 
bless  the  man  that  left  it  there  !  When 
we  're  close  upon  him,  I  throw  the 
curtain  over  his  head.  You  pass  the 
rope  round  his  legs  and  trip  him  up." 

Mrs.  Maxwell  could  only  look  about 
her  in  a  daze.    Panic  had  mastered  her. 

"  Trip  him  up  !  "  she  murmured 
weakly.    "  Trip  him  up  !  " 

"  Now,"  said  Julia,  pointing  to 
their  shelter,  "  in  you  go." 

Kate,  smiling  in  the  extremity  of 
her  terror,  concealed  herself  anew. 

"  A  burglar  !  "  murmured  Julia,  as 
she  sought  the  opposite  recess.  ''  A 
burglar  all  my  own,  and  Jakes  asleep  ! 
Oh,  rapture  !  " 

The  moments  passed.  There  was 
190 


THE     COURT     OF     LOVE 

the  sound  of  some  one  stirring,  —  not 
the  burglar,  but  poor  Kate. 

"  Julia  !  "  she  whispered.  On  the 
heels  of  the  word,  she  came  staggering 
out.    "Julia,  I  'm  going  to  faint." 

"  Faint,  if  you  dare,"  said  valor  from 
behind  the  leaves.  "  I  '11  cut  your 
hair  off." 

Kate  trembled  back  to  covert.  In  a 
moment,  there  she  was  again. 

"  Julia,"  she  quavered,  "  I  shall  have 
to  scream." 

"  Well,  he  '11  split  your  head  open," 
said  Julia  philosophically.  "  You  '11 
look  nice  to  Peter,  then.  Get  back 
there." 

She  did  get  back.  The  soft  padding 
began  above,  the  lightest  of  footfalls 
on  the  stairs.  He  was  coming  down. 
Julia,  peeping  from  her  covert,  found 
herself  also  moved  to  scream,  and  con- 
191 


THE    COURT    OF    LOVE 

quered  it.  He  had  surprised  her.  In- 
stead of  returning  disappointed  from 
securely  fastened  rooms,  he  bore  a 
child,  the  little  man  she  had  already, 
in  impulsive  passion,  begun  to  regard 
as  her  own  emotional  property.  One 
little  hand,  relaxed  and  lovely,  yet 
bearing  in  its  baby  outline  some  hint 
of  virile  strength,  hung  over  the  man's 
shoulder.  The  round  face  was  snuggled 
to  his  breast.  For  one  instant,  Julia's 
heart  failed  her.  A  panic  of  doubt 
came  over  her.  It  would  have  been 
better,  she  thought  in  a  tumult,  not  to 
let  him  in.  It  would  have  been  better 
to  decline  upon  the  base  expedient 
of  womanhood  and  scream  for  help. 
Why  was  it  always  better  to  do  dull 
things,  and,  if  you  were  a  woman,  stick 
to  woman's  ways  ?  Could  not  a  woman 
pluck  adventure,  then,  even  by  the 
192 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

mantle  ? — but  as  her  poor  heart  whim- 
pered down,  it  rose  again  exultantly. 
He  had  laid  the  child  softly  on  the 
bench,  and  regarded  him  doubtfully 
while  the  little  form  relaxed  and  the 
sighing  breath  eased  into  a  deeper 
sleep.  Julia  sighed,  too,  in  relief  and 
sympathy,  and  choked  the  sound.  He 
had  not  heard  her.  He  knelt,  and 
laid  his  hand  upon  the  basket.  That 
was  her  moment.  Her  blood  rose  in 
a  tide.  Armed  for  vengeance,  —  with 
a  velvet  curtain,  —  she  flew  from  her 
hiding-place,  and  as  he  moved,  in 
answer  to  her  rush,  the  curtain  was 
over  his  head. 

"Kate!"  she  called.  "The  rope! 
the  rope ! '' 

Kate  and  the  rope  had  parted  com- 
pany. She  had  darted  out  of  her  re- 
treat, and  left  it  on  the  floor  behind 
193 


THE    COURT     OF    LOVE 

her.  There  in  her  petticoat  she  stood, 
screaming  rhythmically.  Some  one  be- 
gan beating  on  the  door,  the  one  by 
which  Jakes  had  led  his  rescuers  on 
the  quest  of  the  key.  There  were  cries 
from  above  stairs.  Doors  were  pounded 
upon.  Voices  distractedly  demanded : 
"  What 's  the  matter  ? " 

"Open  this  door !  "  came  a  piercing 
pipe  without,  the  voice  of  Jakes. 

"Open  the  door!''  called  Silver- 
stream,  from  the  same  point. 

"Open  the  door,  Kate,  open  the 
door,''  shrieked  Julia,  now  in-hand-to 
hand  encounter  with  her  adversary. 

"  Open  the  door  !  "  called  Peter 
Maxwell. 

Mrs.  Maxwell  wakened  from  her 
trance  of  horror. 

"  Oh  !  "  she  cried,  "  it 's  Peter  !  O 
Peter,  Peter  !  "  She  darted  to  the  rug, 
194 


THE    COURT     OF    LOVE 

pounced  on  the  keys,  and  got  the  right 
one.  She  threw  wide  the  door.  There 
was  a  rush  of  feet.  Silverstream  and 
Jakes,  by  according  impulse,  fell  upon 
the  jailbird,  still  muffled  in  his  curtain, 
and  Maxwell,  judging  that  they  were 
enough  for  that  encounter,  confronted 
his  shrinking  wife.  Julia,  hot,  blown, 
her  hair  tumbling  over  her  shoulders 
in  beauteous  disarray,  took  a  breath, 
and  shook  herself.  Then,  with  the 
utmost  composure,  she  seized  upon 
the  child,  awake  now  and  putting  his 
manly  fingers  into  his  sleepy  eyes,  sat 
down  upon  the  bench,  and  cuddled 
him. 

"  You  darling  love  !  "  she  remarked, 
in  ecstasy. 

Peter  had  made  one  majestic  excla- 
mation : 

"  Katherine  Maxwell ! '' 
195 


THE     COURT     OF     LOVE 

At  that  instant,  Silverstream,  having 
tossed  aside  his  captive's  shrouding  cur- 
tain, plucked  at  his  mask  also,  and  as 
it  fell,  Peter  followed  his  wife's  eye  to 
the  burglar's  unveiled  features. 

'* Stirling!  "  fulminated  Peter. 

Stirling  fell  at  once  into  an  attitude 
of  professional  grace. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  he  replied. 

"  Stirling !  "  cried  his  mistress. 

"  Yes,  mum,"  responded  Stirling, 
with  perhaps  the  suspicion  of  a  smile, 
"if  you  please,  mum  !" 

Meantime  Jakes,  with  an  Hebraic 
justice,  was  snapping  the  handcuffs  on 
his  prisoner's  wrists.  He  knelt  now, 
and  with  great  relish  lashed  the  comely 
legs  together  as  they  stood. 

"Stirling,"  pursued  Mrs.  Maxwell, 
with  dignity,  under  the  impression  that 
some  especial  action  was  demanded  of 
196 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

her  as  an  employer  of  the  erring  but- 
ler, "how  did  you  come  here  ?'' 

But  no  one  noticed  her,  and  Peter, 
recalled,  demanded  fiercely,  in  an  un- 
dertone : 

"  Katherine  Maxwell,  how  did  you 
come  here  ? '' 

Jakes  meantime  propelled  his  pris- 
oner to  an  unoccupied  corner,  where  he 
left  him  briefly  while  he  allayed  the 
turmoil  above  stairs. 

*' Katherine  "  —  said  Peter. 

"  Peter,  dearest !  '*  she  implored  him. 

"  Kate  !  ''  it  was  a  ringing  note  from 
Julia,  momentarily  desisting  from  her 
occupation  of  cuddling  "  piggies  and 
paddies  ''  and  searching  out  creases  in 
chubby  legs. 

Kate  plucked  up  courage. 

"  Peter  Maxwell,''  she  returned, 
with  spirit,  "  how  did  you  come  here  ? '' 
197 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

*' What  is  this  house  ?  "  fumed  Peter. 
"I  insist  upon  knowing/' 

*'  It 's  the  Court  of  Love/'  responded 
Julia,  "  where  everybody  has  what  he 
likes  and  likes  what  he  has/' 

Maxwell  scarcely  heard  her.  The 
words  beat  upon  his  ears  like  empty 
sounds.  As  he  thought,  he  gathered 
indignation. 

"  Katherine,"  he  said,  "  I  leave  you 
respectably  at  home.  I  find  you  here 
—  here  —  in  this  place" — he  de- 
scended to  miserable  fact  —  "  without 
your  skirt." 

"  O  Peter  !  " 

"  Kate  !  "    This  again  from  Julia. 

Sooner  or  later  Kate  must  tell.  She 
knew  it.  In  the  bravado  of  despair, 
she  lifted  her  head,  and  spoke  with  an 
assurance  that  amazed  her  and  gave  her 
power  to  finish  : 


THE     COURT    OF    LOVE 

"  Peter,  you  advised  me  to  go  to  a 
Rest  Cure.  My  cure  is  freedom  — just 
like  yours.    My  rest  is  —  fun." 

Peter  seemed  to  go  all  to  pieces. 
She  saw  him  crumble.  "  Kate/'  he 
implored  her,  "  is  there  a  part  of  your 
life  I  don't  know?" 

She  felt  her  triumph,  and  stood 
there,  silent,  smiling.  It  was  Julia 
who  took  pity  on  his  honest  misery. 

"  Bless  you,  no !  "  she  called. 
"  Come  here,  Mr.  Maxwell.  I  'm  her 
old  chum.  Shake  hands.  Kitty  's  only 
visiting  me.  So  are  you,  for  that  mat- 
ter. Kiss  now,  and  make  up  after- 
wards." 

Peter  looked  at  his  Kitty.  She  was 
smiling,  blushing,  almost  on  tiptoe, 
ready  if  he  called.  Peter  was  at  her 
side.  He  put  an  eager  arm  about  her 
waist,  and  off  they  went  to  the  library, 
199 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

to  talk  it  out.  Meantime  Julia  was 
becoming  aware  that  Silverstream, 
having  left  the  prisoner  safe,  was 
standing  before  her,  looking  at  her. 
Julia  blushed.  She  did  not  look  at  him. 
Then  she  blushed  more  and  more  and 
cuddled  Jack. 

"  Will  you  stop  kissing  that  child  ?" 
Silverstream  inquired  imperatively. 

Julia  looked  at  him,  and  dimpled. 

"  No,"  said  she,  ^'not  immediately.'' 

"  Who  is  the  child  ?  " 

*'  Part  of  a  loan  collection." 

'*  Put  him  down.  I  want  to  talk  to 
you." 

The  little  boy  had  lifted  his  head. 
He  was  looking  gravely  at  the  speaker. 
He  spoke  now,  in  a  clear  tone,  very 
sedately : 

^'  Hullo,  Uncle  Jack." 

"  By    Jove,    sonny  !  "    cried    Silver- 

200 


THE     COURT     OF     LOVE 


Stream.  He  reeled  a  little  from  excess 
of  hope.  "By  Jove,  my  son/'  he 
cried,  "is  that  you?'' 

Julia  held  the  little  face  away  from 
her,  and  looked  into  the  blue  eyes. 

"  How  do  you  know  it 's  Uncle  Jack, 
precious?"  she  inquired. 

Little  Jack  gazed  at  them  both  with 
a  measure  of  the  contempt  due  to  older 
creatures  when  they  insist  on  reasons. 

"  He  's  the  picture  on  my  bureau," 
was  his  succinct  and  excellent  reply, 
delivered  in  the  same  clear  voice. 
"  Did  n't  you  know  that?  " 

The  voices  above  stairs  had  ceased 
with  Jakes's  reassurance.  Whatever 
he  had  said  had  proved  sufficient.  But 
now  there  was  a  cry  without  —  a 
woman's  note : 

"Help!    help!" 

It  came  from  the  court  or  garden, 

\\  201 


THE     COURT    OF    LOVE 

and  Jakes,  secure  now  in  the  certainty 
of  allies,  threw  open  the  door.  A 
woman  hung  there  from  her  hands. 
It  was  Hannah  Slate. 

"  Be  I  near  the  ground  ?  '*  she  cried 
piercingly.    "  How  near  be  I  ?  " 

"You  le'  go,"  Jakes  admonished  her. 
"  Le'go,  an'  you  '11  soon  find  out." 

But  she  clung  frantically.  Beyond 
the  exercise  of  patience,  Jakes  laid  hold 
upon  her  hands  and  shook  them  free. 
She  dropped  miserably,  and  drew  a 
happy  breath  at  finding  herself  on  earth. 
Jakes  eyed  her  wrathfully.  She  seemed 
to  be  inaugurating  the  untoward  events 
of  the  night  all  over  again. 

"  There  's  a  flight  o'  stairs  to  this 
house,"  he  remarked. 

"  Is  there  ?  "  returned  Hannah,  with 
the  fierceness  of  a  tiger  trapped.  "Well, 
there's   locks   to    the   doors,    too,    an' 

202 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

thieves,  an'  cut-throats  that  git  into  the 
room  while  you  're  so  beat  out  you  can't 
waken  nor  stir,  an'  steal  away  the  child 
by  your  side,  an'  then  lock  you  up 
again.  An'  if  you  have  to  strip  up  the 
sheets  an'  come  down  by  the  winder  if 
your  head  does  go  round  "  — 

"Hannah  Slate!"  Silverstream  ejac- 
ulated at  this  point. 

She  was  aghast. 

"Mr.  Silverstream  !  "  she  breathed. 
"  My  Lord  !  " 

But  in  seeing  him  she  saw  also  little 
Jack  in  his  safe  refuge,  and  gave  a  cry 
all  human  and  yearning,  pathetically 
unsuited  to  her  gaunt  virginity. 

"  Come,  Hannah,"  Julia  called  her. 
"  Come  along.  Sit  down  here  with 
me ;  we  '11  eat  him  up  together." 

Stirling  was  speaking  with  a  universal 
and  perfect  respect : 
203 


THE     COURT    OF    LOVE 

"  If  you  please,  ladies  and  gents,  I 
should  wish  to  call  attention  to  the 
fact  that  it  was  me  that  found  the  child, 
and  me  that  claims  the  reward/' 

"  Nonsense,  highwayman,"  returned 
Julia  promptly.      "/  found  the  child." 

Hannah,  the  boy  in  her  arms,  looked 
over  his  head  at  Silverstream  defiantly, 
and  yet  as  one  whose  nerve  is  shaken. 

"  Mr.  Silverstream,"  said  she,  "  be  I 
goin'  to  be  took  up  ?" 

"  If  you  are,  Hannah,  they  shall  put 
us  in  the  same  cell,"  Julia  announced 
with  cheerfulness.  She  rose,  remem- 
bered her  hair  was  down,  and  hunted 
for  her  hairpins.  Then  she  wound  the 
mass  upon  the  top  of  her  head.  ''  Go 
back  to  bed,  Hannah,"  she  commanded. 
"  Jakes,  find  her  the  key  to  her  room. 
Take  the  boy  with  you,  Hannah. 
Don  't  you  fret." 

204 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 


Jakes  had  extracted  the  keys  from 
Stirling's  pocket,  and  Stirling  had 
suavely  murmured  in  the  doing,  **My 
old  'ero  ! '' 

Jakes  looked  him  in  the  eye. 

"You  can  shet  your  mouth,''  he 
counseled,  "  or  I  '11  shet  it  for  ye." 

But  Stirling  communed  absently,  as 
if  with  a  sympathetic  inner  self,  "  My 
little  girl  she  used  to  say  to  me,  'Show 
me  the  'ero  that  done  the  deed  !'" 

It  was  Silverstream  who  carried  the 
child  upstairs  and  delivered  him  into 
Hannah's  arms  at  her  chamber  door ; 
and  when  Jakes  had  produced  her  key 
and  let  her  in,  they  both  came  down 
again,  Jakes  to  his  prisoner,  the  young 
man  to  his  mate.  Silverstream  stood 
before  her. 

"  Come  and  talk  to  me,"  he  said. 

She  was  Aurora,  the  goddess  of  the 
205 


THE     COURT    OF    LOVE 


dawn,  not  a  hardworked  young  woman 
who  had  been  up  all  night.  She  looked 
at  him,  blushed,  trembled. 

"  To-morrow,''  she  said. 

"To-day!" 

He  offered  her  his  arm.  She  took 
it,  not  knowing  where  he  meant  to  lead 
her.  They  walked  across  the  hall  to 
the  open  door,  where  Silverstream  had 
caught  a  glimpse  of  stars. 

"  Jakes,"  he  said  over  his  shoulder, 
"  telephone  to  the  police  to  come  up 
and  take  that  fellow  in  the  morning." 

Then  he  led  his  lady  out  into  the 
garden. 


^^^a^ 


IX 


HE  garden  was  dark, 
and  a  soft    wind  was 
^^ .    _    ,  ,.„     „  stirring-.     There    was 
P       I       ^  sound  of  plashing 

?ci(^  Jm    water   at   a   distance, 

and  the  whole  world 
9  smelled  of  April.    It 

looked  to  Silverstream,  what  he  could 
see  of  it,  all  enchantment,  and  he 
drew  her  into  the  shade  of  an  arbor 
near.  Outside  that  shielding  dusk,  the 
light  from  the  house  fell  upon  white 
pillars  and  trembling  leaves,  and  made 
their  seclusion  the  more  deep.  He 
took  her.  hands,  and  drew  her  to 
him. 

207 


THE     COURT     OF     LOVE 

"  Sweetheart,"  he  said,  "  I  am  going 
to  kiss  you." 

When  he  had  kissed  her,  he  still 
held  her  hands,  and  they  stood  trem- 
bling. Silverstream  laughed  a  little 
then. 

"  I  don't  know  your  name,"  he  said. 

She  laughed,  too. 

**  But  I  know  yours.  It 's  a  pretty 
name." 

**  Shall  you  like  to  wear  it?" 

She  made  him  a  little  curtsy  in  the 
dark. 

"  Yes,  sir,  thank  you,  sir." 

"  When  ?  How  soon  ?  To-morrow  ? 
It's  to-morrow  now.    To-day  !  " 

*'  No,  thank  you,  sir.  Not  quite  to- 
day." 

"  Why  not,  sweetheart?" 

*'  I  'm  in  no  hurry,  sir." 

*'  I  'm  in  a  furious  hurry." 
208 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

"  I  don't  even  like  to  make  up  a 
frock  as  soon  as  I  've  got  it.  I  like  to  try 
the  color  against  my  cheek,  and  then 
put  it  aside  in  a  drawer,  and  next  day 
try  it  again.    Besides,  I  want  a  lover." 

"  You  've  got  one,  sweetheart.'' 

"Ah,  but  that's  why  I  don't  want 
him  to  turn  into  that  other  thing." 

"What  other  thing?" 

"  Oh,  I  don't  quite  remember  what 
they  call  it!    That  thing  Peter  is.' 

"A  husband?" 

"  Is  that  it  ?"  she  asked,  with  inno- 
cence. "  Well,  maybe  it  does  sound 
like  it." 

He  had  her  hands  again,  and  held 
them  hard. 

"  I  don't  believe  you  're  ever  quite  in 
earnest,"  he  said,  with  a  great  emotion 
that  sounded  to  them  both  like  anger. 

"  Don't  you?" 

209 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

"You  do  nothing  but  play  games 
here/' 

"  It  is  the  Court  of  Love/'  said 
Julia.  She  breathed  a  happy  sigh,  and 
smiled  into  the  darkness.  It  was  as  if 
she  wished  divinely  well  to  the  great 
world. 

*^  How  do  I  know  but  this  is  a  game, 
too?" 

"How,  indeed!  " 

"Shall  I  trust  you?" 

"Not  if  you  don't  want  to." 

"  Do  you  love  me  ?  " 

"I  let  you  kiss  me." 
^    "  You  did  n't  kiss  me  back  again." 

"  Do  they  do  that,  too  ? " 

"  Don't  be  cruel  to  me  !  " 

He  seemed  to  her  about  the  size  of 
little  Jack  upstairs. 

"  Come,  come,"  she  whispered,  to 
herself,  "  I  must  conquer  this." 

210 


THE     COURT     OF    LOVE 

"  Conquer  what  ?  liking  me  ?  " 

"  I  never  said  I  liked  you.  Conquer 
taking  you  for  Jackie." 

"  You  're  not  in  earnest !  Not  about 
anything  ! " 

"Am  I  not?" 

"Are  you?" 

"  Let  go  my  hands.  You  hurt 
them." 

He  dropped  them,  and  stepped  a 
pace  away  from  her. 

"  Good-by,"  he  said.  "  I  under- 
stand." 

"  Good-by  !  You  did  n't  ask  me 
why  I  wanted  back  my  hands."  She 
crossed  the  space,  and  lifted  them  to 
his  shoulders.  They  crept  on  until 
they  met.  She  spoke,  and  her  breath 
touched  his  ear. 

"  Did  n't  I  truly  kiss  you  ? " 


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